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THE LIFE 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS 



WITH HIS 



LETTERS AND SPEECHES 



ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS 



BALTIMORE: 
PUBLISHED BY N. HICKMAN 9 

116 BALTIMORE STUEET. 
1848. 




Entered, according to the Act of Congres3, in the year one thousand eight hundred nnd forty 
eight, by George H. Hickman, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland. 



TO 

GENERAL BENJAMIN C. E0¥ARD, 

OF 

MARYLAND, 

h 
THE 

SOLDIER-STATESMAN, 

THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The lives of the public men of our country is the history of the nation, and 
in all its vicissitudes and trials no one has filled a. more conspicuous and honor- 
able position than the subject of the present memoir. 

In the language of the veteran Napoleon of the American press, " we know 
General Cass as a man, and we esteem him. We have seen him for the last 
three years standing up with all his vigor, and with all his heart, in supposing 
an administration whose head superseded him four years ago in the votes of the 
Baltimore Convention. Among the most distinguished statesmen in the land, 
he has been one of the most decided and the most faithful advocates of an ad- 
ministration which yields to no other in the glory and benefit which it has shed 
upon its country. If opposition to its measures were to be repelled, Lewis Cass 
was there to throw himself into the breach. If blows were to be returned, he 
was there to give them in no stinted measure. If our rights were to be pro- 
tected abroad, Lewis Cass was there to stand up by the side of a patriotic Ex- 
ecutive. If great reforms were to be introduced at home, who more honest and 
efficient in its support ? Faithful and firm as he has proved himself to be, in 
standing by the friends of the country, he deserves the support of every republi- 
can who is friendly to the administration, and devoted to the principles of the 
Republican party. 

In the compilation of this volume, the author has examined various and nu- 
merous authorities, and condensed, as far as practicable, the numerous incidents 
connected with the life of General Cass. He is mainly indebted to " Niles' 
National Register," "The Congressional Globe," and a series of essays by the 
Hon. Richard Rush, published in the Richmond Enquirer in the year 1843, un- 
der the signature of a " voice from a friend,' - together with a short biographical 
sketch contained in the National Portrait Gallery. 

G. H. IT. 

Baltimore, May, 1849. 



CHAPTER I. . 

Public men, who maintain an elevated rank in popular favor, in a country 
where their opinions and acts are open to certain scrutiny and free remark, must 
be possessed of more than ordinary merit. And we believe that we shall have 
public opinion decidedly with us, when we say, that it has fallen to the lot of few 
to occupy as various and important stations in the Republic, with so large a 
share of approbation, as ihe subject of the present memoir. 

General Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9th, 
1682. His ancestors were among the first settlers of that part of the country, 
and his lather (Major Jonathan Cass) bore a commission in the Revolutionary 
army, which he joined the day after the battle of Lexington, and in which he 
continued until the close of that long and arduous struggle, having participated 
in the memorable battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, Mon- 
mouth, and Germantown. He was afterwards a Major in General Wayne's 
army. In 1799 he moved with his family to Marietta, but eventually settled at 
Wackalomoka, in the vicinity of Zanesville, in Ohio, where, after a life of hon- 
orable usefulness, he died in August, 1830. 

His son, Lewis Cass, the subject of the present memoir, was educated at the 
Academy of Exeter, the place ot his nativity, and studied law at Marietta, under 
the late Governor Meigs of Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1802, and 
pursued the practice of his profession successfully during several years. 

In 1806, he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature. When the en- 
terprise of Aaron Burr began to agitate the country, he was appointed on the 
Committee in the Legislature to which the subject was referred, and drafted the 
law which enabled the local authorities to arrest the men and boats on their 
passage down the Ohio. This law, interposing the arms of the State, baffled a 
project which was generally believed to have been of a revolutionary character, 
and intended to divide the Western from the Eastern States. The same pen. 
drafted the address to Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, which 
unfolded the views of the Ohio Legislature, on this momentous subject. Few 
matters in any country ever excited a greater sensation than this. The crime 
imputed was of the deepest guilt ; the accused, a person of the highest eminence 
both for talents and political station, having but lately occupied the second post, 
with pretensions to the first, in the country, the Government of which he was 
charged with a design to subvert. Conspicuous persons were implicated in the 
supposed plot ; and the party violence which marked the period, mingled itself 
in the opposite opinions which the transactions themselves might naturally cre- 
ate. Public attention was consequently fixed with eager curiosity on every step 
of the trial, and the counsel, the bench, and the Government, scanned the pro- 
ceedings with the most inquisitive scrutiny. In exposing the nefarious designs 
of Buir, Mr. Cass "displayed that firmness and civic courage, which has always 
characterized hi-; public career. 

In 1807, Mr. Cass was appointed by President Jefferson, Marshal of the State 
of Ohio, which office he resigned in 1813. In 1812, he volunteered his services 
in the force which was called out to join the army under General Wil.iam Hull, 
and marched to Dayton, where he was elected Colonel of the third regiment of 
Ohio volunteers. Having to break through an almost trackless wilderness, the 
army suffered much on its route to Detroit, and it was necessary that the officers 
of the volunteers should be cxamplers in fatigue and privations, lest the men, 
unused to military discipline, should turn back in discouragement. Colonel 



8 

Cass was among the most urgent for an invasion of the. Canadian province im- 
mediately after the army arrived at Detroit, but General Hull did not cross the 
liver until after the lapse of several days, and thereby lost all the advantages of 
a prompt and decisive movement. The advanced detachment was commanded 
by Colonel Cass, and he was the first man who landed, in arms, on the enemy's 
shore, after the declaration of war. On entering Canada, General Hull distrib- 
uted a proclamation among the inhabitants, which, at the time, had much noto- 
riety, and was generally ascribed to Colonel Cass; it is now known that he 
wrote it. Whatever may have been entertained of the inglorious descent from 
promise to fulfilment, it was generally regarded as a high spirited, eloquent, and 
patriotic document. Colonel Cass soon dislodged the British posted at the bridge 
over the Canards. There he gallantly maintained his ground, in expecta- 
tion that the army would advance and follow up the suceess, by striking at 
Maiden ; but was disappointed by the indecision of General Hull, who ordered 
the detachment to return. 

Proclamation of war was made by President. Madison on the 19, h of June, 1812, 
and tin; following official letter of Colonel Cass proves that in the succeeding 
month the enemy's advanced posts had been forced by a detachment under the 
command of that modest and brave officer : 

Sandwich, (Upper Canada,) July 17th, 1812. 

Sir : In conformity with your instructions, I proceeded with a detachment of230 
men, to reconnoitre the enemy's advanced posts. We found them in possession 
of a bridge over the river Canas, at the distance of four miles irom Maiden. 
After examining their position, I left one company of riflemen, to conceal them- 
selves near the bridge, and upon our appearance on the other side of the. river, 
to commence firing, in order to divert their attention, and to throw them into 
confusion. I then proceded with the remainder of the force about five miles to 
a ford over the Canas, and down on the southern bank of the river. About sun- 
set we arrived in sight of the enemy. Being entirely destitute of guides, we 
marched too near the bank of the river, and found our progress checked by a 
creek, which was then impassible. We were then competed to march up a 
mile, in order to eflect a passage over the creel;. 

This gave the enemy time to make, their arrangements, and j,. =. pare for their 
defence. On coming down the creek we found them formed. They commenc- 
ed a distant fire of musketry. The riflemen of the detachment were formed upon 
the wings, and the two companies of infantry in the centre. The men moved 
on with great spirit and alacrity. Alter the first fire the British retreated. We 
continued advancing. Three times they formed, and as often retreated. We 
drove them about half a mile, when it became so dark that we were obliged to 
relinquish the pursuit. Three privates of the 41st regiment were wounded and 
taken prisoners. We learn from deserters that nine or ten were wounded, and 
some killed. We could gain no precise information of the number opposed to 
us. It consisted of a considerable detachment from the 41st regiment, some mi- 
litia, and a body of Indians. The guard at the bridge consisted of 50 men. Our 
riflemen stationed on this side the Canas discovered the enemy reinforcing them 
during the whole afternoon. There is no doubt but their number considerably 
exceeded ours. Lieutenant Colonel Miller conducted himself in the most spirited 
and able manner. I have every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of the 
whole detachment. 

Very respectfully, sir, I have the honor to be, 

Your most obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS, 
Colonel 3d Regiment Ohio Volunteers. 



This expedition (of Hull's) was planned a short time previous to the declara- 
tion of war, (April, 1812,) as a measure of precaution and forecast, in order that a 
considerable force might be placed in the Michigan territory with a general view 
to its security, and in the event of war, to such operations in the uppermost Ca- 
nada, as would interrupt the hostile influence of Great Britain over the savages, 
obtain the command of the lake on which that part of Canada borders, and main- 
tain co-operating relations with such forces as might be most conveniently em- 
ployed against other parts. Brigadier General Hull was charged with this pro- 
visional service, having under his command a body of troops composed of regu- 
lars and volunteers from the State of Ohio. Having reached his destination after 
his knowledge that war had been declared, and possessing discretionary author- 
ity to act offensively, he passed into the neighboring territory of the enemy with 
tlie prospect of easy and victorious progress. The expedition, neverthless, ter- 
minated unfortunately, not only in a retreat to the town and fort of Detroit, 
but in the surrender of both, and of the gallant corps commanded by that officer. 
The sensation produce*! by this occurrence throughout the United States, and 
particularly in the Western country, can scarcely be described. So entirely un- 
prepared was the public mind for this extraordinary event, that no one could be- 
lieve it to have taken place, until communicated from an official source. 

In all the timorous and inefficient measures that followed, Colonel Cass had 
no responsible participation. The singular, inconsistent, and irresolute conduct 
of General Hull during the whole expedition, soon withdrew from him the con- 
fidence of Colonel Cass, and his known disapprobation of the course pursued 
made him an unwelcome counsellor at head quarters. When the army capitu- 
lated on the 16th of August, to General Brcck, the commander of the British 
forces, he was not present, but the detachment with which he was serving, un- 
der Colonel McArthur, was included in the capitulation, and being unable to 
retreat by the impracticable route behind it, submitted, and was embarked for 
Ohio. Colonel Cass immediately repaired to Washington, and made the follow 
ing report to the Government : 

Washington, September 12, 1812. 
Sir : Having been ordered on to this place by Colonel McArthur for the pur- 
pose of communicating to the Government such particulars respecting the expe- 
dition lately commanded by Brigadier General Hull, and its disastrous result, as 
might enable them correctly to appreciate the conduct of the officers and men, 
and to develope the causes which produced so foul a stain upon the national 
character, I have the honor to submit for your consideration the following state- 
ment. 

When the forces landed in Canada, they landed with an ardent zeal, and 
stimulated with the hope of conquest. No enemy appeared in view of us, and 
had an immediate and vigorous attack been made upon Maiden, it would doubt- 
less have fallen an easy victory. I knew General Hull afterwards declared he 
regretted this attack had not been made, and he had every reason to believe 
success would have crowned his efforts. The reason given for delaying our 
operations, was to mount our heavy cannon, and to afford to the Canadian mili- 
tia time and opportunity to quit an obnoxious service. In the course of two 
weeks the number of their militia who were embodied had decreased, by deser- 
tion, from six hundred to one hundred men ; and, in the course of three weeks, 
the cannon were mounted, the ammunition fixed, and every preparation made for 
an immediate investment of the fort. At a council, at which were present all 
the field officers, and which was held before our preparations were complcled- 
it was unanimously agreed to make an immediate attempt to accomplish the ob, 
ject of the expedition. If, by waiting two days, we could have the service of 
our heavy artillery, it was agreed to wait, if not, it was deteimed to go without 



10 

it, and attempt the place by storm. This opinion appeared to correspond with 
the views of the General, and the day was appointed for commencing our 
march. He declared to me that he considered himself pledged to lead the army 
to Maiden. The ammunition was placed in the waggons ; the cannons were 
embarked on board the floating batteries, and every requisite was prepared. The 
spirit and zeal, the ardor and animation displayed by the officers and men on 
learning the near accomplishment of their wishes, a sure and sacred pledge that 
in the hour of trial, they would not be found wanting in duty to their country 
and themselves. But a change of measures, in opposition to the wishes and 
opinions of all the officers, was adopted by the General. The plan of attacking 
Maiden was abandoned, and, instead of acting offensively, we broke up our 
camp, evacuated Canada, and recrossed the river in the night, without even the 
shadow of an enemy to injure us. We left to the tender mercy of the enemy 
the mioerable Canadians who had joined us, and the protection we afforded 
them was but a passport to vengeance. This fatal and unaccountable step dis- 
pirited the troops, and destroyed the little confidence which a series of timid, ir- 
resolute, and indecisive measures had left in the commanding officer. 

About the 10th of August the enemy received a reinforcement of four hun- 
dred men. On the 12th, the commanding officers of three of the regimonts 
(the fourth was absent) were informed, through a medium which admitted of no 
doubt, that the General had stated, that a capitulation would be necessary. 
They on the same day addressed to Governor Meigs, of Ohio, a letter, of which 
the following is an extract : 

"Believe all the bearer will tell you. Believe it, however it may astonish 

you, as much as if told by one of us. Even a c is talked of by the 

. The bearer will fill the vacancy." 

The doubtful fate of this letter rendered it necessary to use circumspection in 
its details, and therefore the blanks were left. The word " capitulation" will 
fill the first, and " commanding General" the other. As no enemy was near 
us, and as the superiority of our force wes manifest, we could see no necessity 
for capitulating, nor any propriety in alluding to it. We there determined, in 
the last resort, to incur the responsibility of divesting the General of his com- 
mand. This plan was eventually prevented by two of the commanding officers 
of regiments being ordered upon detachments. 

On the 18th, lh" British took a position opposite Detroit, and began to throw 
up works. During that and the two following days, they pursued their object 
without interruption and established a battery for two eighteen pounders, and 
an eight inch howitzer. About sunset on the 14th, a detachment of 350 men 
from the regiments commanded by Colonel McArthur and myself, was ordered 
to march to the river Raisin, to escort the provisions, which had sometime re- 
mained there protected by a party under the commanded of Captain Brush. 

On Saturday, the 15th, about 1 o'clock, a flag of trace arrived from Sand- 
wich, bearing a summons from General Brock, for the surrender of the town 
and fori of I). •(!•(. it, stating, he cou'd no longer restrain the fbry of the savages. 
To this an immediate and spirited refusal was returned. About 4 o'clock their 
batteries begad to .day upon the town. The tin 1 was returned and continued 
without interruption, and with little effect, till dark. Their shells were thrown 
till II o'clock. 

At daylight the firing on both sides recommenced ; at the same time the ene- 
my began to land troops at the Springwelhl, three miles below Detroit, protect- 
ed by two of their armed vessels. Between six and seven o'clock, they had 
effected (heir landin%, and immediately took up their line of march. They 
moved in a close column of platoons, twelve in front, upon the bank of the 
river. 



Jl 

The fourth regiment was stationed in the fort ; the Ohio volunteers and a part 
of the Michigan militia, behind some pickets, in a situation in which the whole 
flank of the enemy would hive been exposed. The residue of the Michigan 
militia were in the upper part of the town, to resist the incursions of the sava- 
ges. Two twenty-four pounders loaded with grape shot were posted on a com- 
manding eminence, ready to sweep the advancing column. In this situation, 
the superiority of our position was apparent, and our troops, in the eager expec- 
tation of victory, awaited the approach of the enemy. Not a sigh of discontent 
broke upon the car; not a look of cowardice met the eye. Every man expected 
a proud day for his country, and each was anxious that his individual exertion 
should contribute to the general result. 

When the head of their column arrived within about five hundred yards of 
the head of our line, orders were received from General Hull for the whole to 
retreat to the fort, and for the twenty-four pounders not to open upon the enemy. 
One universal burst of indignation was apparent upon the receipt of this order. 
Those whose conviction was the deliberate result of a dispassionate examina- 
tion of passing events, saw the folly and impropriety of crowding 1100 men 
into a little work, which 300 men could fuliy man, and into which the shots and 
shells of the enemy were falling. The fort was in this manner filled ; the men 
were directed to stack their arms, and scarcely was an opportunity afforded of 
moving Shortly after, a white flag was hung out upon the walls. A British 
officer rode up to inquire the cause. A communication passed between the 
commanding Generals, which ended the capitulation submitted to you. In en- 
tering into this capitulation, the General took counsel from his own feelings 
only. Not an officer was consulted. Not one anticipated a surrender, till he 
saw ths white flag displayed. Even the women were indignant at so shameful 
a degradation of the American character, and all felt, but he who held in his 
hands the reins of authority. 

Our morning report had that morning made our effective present, fit for duty, 
1060, without including the detachment before alluded to, and without including 
300 of the Michigan militia on duty. About dark on Saturday evening, the de- 
tachment sent to escort the provisions, received orders from General Hull to re- 
turn with as much expedition as possible. About 10 o'clock the next day they 
arrived within sight of Detroit. Had a firing been heard, or any resistance 
visible, they would have immediately advanced and attacked the rear of thei 
enemy. The situation in which this detachment was placed, although the re- 
sult of accident, was the best for annoying the enemy and cutting off his retreat, 
that cou'd have been selected. With his raw troops enclosed between two 
fires, and no hopes of succor, it is hazarding little to say, that very few would 
have escaped. 

I have been imformedby Colonel Findlay, who saw the return of the Quar- 
termaster General the day aflea the surrender, that their whole force, of every 
description, white, red, and black, was 1030. They had seventy. nine platoons, 
twelve in a platoon, of men dressed in uniform, many of these were evidently 
Canadian militia. The rest of their miiilia increased their whole, force to about 
seven hundred men. The number of the Indians could not be ascertained with 
any degree of precision ; not many were visible. And ia the event of an at- 
tack could have afforded no material advantage to the enemy. 

In endeavoring to appreciate the motives and to investigate the causes which 
led to an event so unexpected and dishonorable, it is impossible to find anysolu- 
tion in the relative strength of the contending parties, or in the measures of re- 
sistance in our power. That we wen far superior to the enemy ; that upon any 
ordinary principles of calculation we would have defeated them, the wounded 
and indignant feelings of axary man there will testify. 



12 

A few clays before the surrender, I was informed by General Hull, we had 
400 rounds of 24 pound shot fixed and about 10;) 000 Cartridges made. We sur- 
rendered with the fort, '10 barrels of powder and 2,500 stand of arms. 

The stale, of our provisions has not been generally understood. On the day 
of the surrender, he had fifteen days of provisions of every kind on hand — of 
meat, there was plenty in the country, and arrangements bad been made for 
purchasing and grinding the flour. It was calculated, we could readily procure 
three months provisions, independent of 150 barrels of flour, and 1,300 bead of 
cattle which bad been forwarded from the State of Ohio, which remained at the 
river Raisin, under Caplain Brush, within reach of the army. 

But had we been totally destitute of provisions, our duty and our interest un- 
doubtedly was, to light. The enemy invited us to meet him in the field. 

By defeating him, the whole country would have been open to ns, and the 
object of the expedition gloriously and successfully obtained. If we. had been 
defeated, we had nothing to do but to retreat to the fort, and make the best de- 
fence which circumstances, and our situation rendered practicable. But basely 
to surrender without firing a gun — tamely to submit without raising a bayonet — 
disgracefully to pass in review before an enemy, as inferior in the quality as in 
the. number of his forces, were circumstances, which excited feelings of in Ag- 
nation more easily felt than described. To see the. whole of our men flushed 
with the hope of victory, eagerly awaiting the approaching contest, to see them 
afterwards dispirited, hopeless, and desponding, at least 500 shedding tears be- 
cause they were not allowed to meet their country's foe, and to fight their coun- 
try's battles, excited sensations, which no American has ever before had cause 
to feel, and which, I trust in God, will never again be felt, while one. man re- 
mains to defend the standard of the Union. 

I am expressly authorized to state, that Colonel McArthur, and Colonel Find- 
lay, and Lieutenant Colonel Miller viewed this transaction in the light which I 
do. They know and feel, that no circumstances in our situation, none in that of 
the enemy, can excuse a capitulation so dishonorable and unjustifiable. This 
too, is the universal sentiment among the troops ; and 1 shall be surprised to 
learn, that there is one man, who thinks it was necessary to sheath his sword, 
or lay down his musket. 

I was informed by General Hull, the morning after the capitulation, that the 
British forces consisted of 1.600 regulars, and that he surrendered to prevent 
the effusion of human blood. That he magnified their regular force near five 
fold, there can be no doubt. Whether the philanthropic reason assigned by him 
is a sufficient justification for surrendering a fortified town, an army, and a terri- 
tory, is for tin- Government to determine. Confident, I am, that had the courage 
and conduct of the General been equal to the spirit and zeal of the troops, the 
event would have been brilliant and successful, as it now is disastrous and dis- 
honorable. 

Very respectfully, sir, 

I have the honor to be, 

your most obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS, 
Colonel, 3.-Z Regiment Ohio Volunteers. 

The Hon. William Evstis, Secretary of War. 

The failure of this expedition struck the friends of the Administration with 
dismay, while its enemies were mad with ferocious joy, in the double hope of 
getting into power, and Blopping the war. Colonel Cass threw himself into the 
breach and did more by publications under bis name, than any man in the na- 
tion, to uphold the Administration of Mr. Madison against the incessant batter- 
ing-rums with which the Federalists sought to prostrate it under that disaster. 



13 

His publications exposed him to fiery denunciations from the Federal press, with- 
out parallel perhaps in our country, except in the case of Mr. Madison himself, 
of whom it was said (and let Uns go as a sample of its ferocity) "that every 
honest man ought to have a whip in his hand to lash the scoundrel around the 
world." 



CHAPTER II. 

The surrender of Hull left the North Western frontier exposed to the incur- 
sions of the Biitish and Indians, and occasioned considerable alarm in the 
neighboring States. It was not, however, without a consoling effect. It was 
followed by s ; gna! proof that the national spirit rises according to the pressure 
on it. The loss of an important post, and the brave men surrendered with it, 
inspired every where new ardor and determination. In the States and districts 
least remote, it was no sooner known, than every citizen was ready to fly with 
his arms at once to protect his brethren against the blood-thirsty savages let 
loose by the enemy on an extensive frontier, and to convert a partial calamity 
into a source of invigorated efforts. Nearly ten thousand volunteers immedi- 
ately offered themselves to the Government, and being placed under the com- 
mand of Brigadier General William Henry Harrison marched towards the Ter- 
ritory of Michigan. 

In December, 1812, Colonel Cass was appointed Major General of the Ohio 
militia; in the following spring he was appointed Colonel of the twenty-seventh 
regiment of United Slates Infantry, and soon after, was promoted to the rank of 
Brigadier General. He joined General Harrison at Camp Seneca, and cross- 
ing Lake Erie with him, after Commodore Perry's victory, was present in pur- 
suit of the Biitish and Indian forces under Geneial Proctor, and particpated in 
the triumph at the Moravian towns. At the battle of the Thames, (5th October, 
1813,) so decisive in annihilating the enemy in that quarter, expelling him from 
our territory, and giving security to a vast frontier, and where it was also that 
the brave Johnson acted so nobly, Cass had no command ; but, always devoted 
to his country; ever burning to serve her in all ways, he solicited a place as 
volunteer aid to the commanding General. His eager request was granted. 
Commodore Perry acted in the same capacity, on that day. He was thus asso- 
ciated in a station and in duty, with that renowned naval officer, who, not con- 
tent with putting Lake Erie in a blaze of glory, by his victory over the British 
fleet, desired to strike at the foes of his country on both elements. And need 
we other proof that Cass was to be found where the shot flew thickest '/ So, 
literally, it was. He galloped on in time to be in that impetuous charge, led by 
Colonel James Johnson, which so completely routed Proctor and the British 
regulars, while Colonel Richard M. Johnson routed and slaughtered the Indians 
under Tecumseh. 

An eye witness, writing some twenty years since, says : "In the autumn of 
1^13, I well recollect General Cass, of the Northwestern army, commanded by 
Harrison and Shelby. He was conspicuous; at the landing of the troops upon 
the Canadian shore below Maiden, on the 27th of September, and conspicuous 
at the battle of the Thames, as the volunteer aid of the commanding general. 
I saw him in the midst of the battle, in the deep woods upon the banks of the 
'i hames, during the roar and clangor of fire-arms, and savage yells of the enemy. 
Then I was a green youth of seventeen, and a volunteer from Kentucky." 

General Harrison's report of the victory, puts Cass and Perry in the same^ 
class of merit ; and none, surely, could ever be higher. In his letter to Gen- 



14 

eral John Armstrong, Secretary of War, dated October 9, 1813, he states: 
"I have already stated that General Cass and Commodore Perry assisted me ia 
forming the troops for action. The former is an officer oj the highest merit and 
the appearance of the brave Commodore cheered and animated every breast." 

The effects of this victory, in which General Cass bore, a prominent part, 
were also as salutary as its achievment was glorious. It put a complete period 
to the war on the Northwestern frontier, ai.d ended the cruel murders that had 
been so frequently perpetrated in those regions, in which female tenderness and 
helpless infancy had been the common victims of savage barbarity. It restored 
to the Americans all the posts which had been surrendered by General Hull. 

General Harrison having now accomplished the object of the expedition — the 
capture of the British army, and being without orders from the War Depart- 
ment, for his subsequent operations, left General Cass with part of his troops 
in command of Michigan and the upper province of Canada. His headquarters 
were at Detroit, and he thus became the military guardian of a people over 
whom he was soon (October 9, 1813,) called to preside, as civil governor. In 
July, 1814, he was associated with General Harrison in a commission to treat 
(at Greenville, Ohio,) with the Indians who had taken part against the United 
States, during the war. A treaty of pacification was formed, comparative, tran- 
quility was restored to the frontiers, and a large body of Indians accompanied 
Governor Cass to Detroit, as auxiliaries. An interesting anecdote is related of 
these auxiliaries, who, by their constant attachment to Governor Cass, acquired 
the sobriquet of "pet Indians." In the fall of 1814, a party of them left De- 
troit for the purpose of making excursions on the river Thames. After remain- 
ing in that neighborhood some days, they collected and took prisoner forty-five 
of the British militia, among whom was a Colonel. Having kept them a short 
time, the Indians animated by humanity, permitted their prisoners to return to 
their homes on tin ir parole of honor not to appear in arms against the United 
Slates or their allies until legally exchanged, at the same time taking care to 
detain the Colonel as a hostage tor the fa thful performance of the contract on 
the part of the enemy. 

About this period, Michigan was left with only one company of regular soldiers 
for its defence, and that at the time, consisted of twenty-seven men. With this 
inadequate force, and the local militia, the Governor was, for a time, left to de- 
fend the territory against the hostile Indians, who were constantly hovering 
around Detroit. On the 4th of October, one of the Kickapoo Indians was shot 
near Cross Isle, by an American soldier while in the act of presenting his gun 
at one of the party. Colonel James, commander of the British post at Sand- 
wich, forwarded a despalch on the succeeding day, to Governor Cass, notifying 
him that a murder had been committed by some American soldiers on a poor 
and unoffending Indian, and stating that it was needless for him to point out the 
line of conduct necessary on this occasion, or to direct attention to the custom of 
savages, when one of their number has been murdered. Governor Cass re- 
plied, that he would cause an inquiry to be made into the circumstances of the 
murder, and the perpetrators, if delected, would suffer the punishment which the 
laws ol all civilized nalions provide for such an offence ; that the allusion to the 
Indian custom of; retaliating upon innocent individuals was unnecessary ; that 
the laws of this country operate with rigid impartiality upon all offenders, and 
that he was confident that no dread of" the consequences would ever induce the 
courts of justice to punish the innocent or to screen the guilty. 

Governor Cass having examined into all the facts connected with the transac- 
tion, subsequcnily wrote to the British commander, that the Indian alluded to 
was killed while in the attempt to shoot an American soldier; that the act was 
committed within the territorial jurisdiction ol the United States, and a British 
officer had consequently no right to require, nor ought an American officer to 



15 

give any explanation upon the subject ; that our country did not acknowledge in 
principle, nor will ever admit in practice, the right of any foreign authorities to 
interfere in any arrangement or discussion between us and the Indians living 
within our territory ; that if an Indian is injured in his person or property within 
this territory, our laws amply provided for the punishment of the offender, and 
the redress of the party injured. 

The British authorities of the western district of Upper Canada, chagrined 
at the manly firmness and determinatfon of Governor Cass, immediately issued 
a proclamation offering a reward of five hundred dollars for the apprehension 
of the murderer. 

As soon as this fact became known to Governor Cass, he issued his procla- 
mation requiring all persons, citizens of the Territory of Michigan, or residing 
therein, to repel by force, all attempts which may be made to apprehend any 
persons within the Territory or waters under the jurisdiction of the United 
States, by virtue of the proclamation of the British authorities, or of any 
process which may issue from any authority other than that of the United States 
or Michigan. 

The principle setup by the British authorities of taking cognizance of alleged 
offences committed within the limits of the United States, was too absurd to ad- 
mit of a moment's dispute. It was altogether unwarrantable. It struck direct, 
ly at our national sovereignty. The pompous interference of his majesty's 
agents in behalf of his old allies, in a matter which did not concern them, was 
designed to give the untutored savages exalted ideas of the friendship, the pow- 
er, and the dignity of the British government — to make that government appear 
as the avenger of their wrongs. Governor Cass met the application with be- 
coming dignity and patriotic spirit. He would suffer no interference of a foreign 
power, with questions coming within the American jurisdiction. He would suf- 
fer no American citizen to be transported to his majesty's dominions for alleged 
crimes committed within the American territory. 

In 1815, after the termination of the war, Governor Cass moved his family to 
Detroit. Michigan had suffered greatly during the war ; Detroit exhibited a 
scene of devastation. Scarcely a family, when it resumed its domestic estab- 
lishment, found more than the remnants of former wealth and comforts. Laws 
had become silent, and morals had suffered in the general wreck ; and it re- 
quired great prudence and an uncommon share of practical wisdom, to lead back 
a people thus disorganized, to habits of industry and order. The civil govern- 
ment was established, and such laws enacted as could be most easily carried 
into effect. The legislative powers being placed in the hands of the Governor 
and judges, rendered it a delicate task to aid in the enactment of laws which 
were to be enforced by the same will ; but it was performed with decision and 
enlightened discrimination. 

The Indian relations were likewise adjusted throughout the western frontier ; 
war had ruptured or weakened every tie which had previously connected tho 
tribes with our Government. By decisive, but kind measures, the hollow truce 
which alone existed, was converted into a permanent peace ; and they returned, 
by degrees, to their hunting gronnds and usual places of resort, with a general 
disposition to live in amity and quiet. 

During the same year, Governor Cass was associated with General McAr- 
thur, to treat with the Indians, at Fort Meigs. The northwestern part of Ohio 
was acquired at this time. The following year, he was engaged in the same 
duties at St. Mary's, to carry into effect, with certain modifications, the treaty of 
Fort Meigs, and for the acquisition of land in Indiana. In 1319, he assisted in 
the treaty held at Sagano, by which large relinquishments were obtained from 
the Indians in Michigan. In all these negotiations, Governor Cass acted on the 
principle of frankness and reciprocity. 



Two events occurred this year i n Michigan, which gave a new aspect to 
her hopes and promises of prosperity. One was. the privilege of electing a del- 
egate to Congress ; the other was, the sale of public lands within the territory. 
No one exerted himself with more zeal to effect these improvements, than Gov- 
ernor Cass, as he was convinced that the introduction of the elective franshise 
among the people would elevate their political character ; and that, ly the sale 
of the public land, the population of the territory would increase, an 'J h prosper- 
ity advanced. 

In 1820, an expedition was planned by Governor Cass, under 'he sanction of 
Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, the object of which was to pass through 
Lake Superior, cross the country to the Mississippi, explore the sources of that 
river, and establish an intercouse with the Indians on that extensive route. The 
party combined persons of science, who were capable of ascertaining the physi- 
cal character of the country, and of making an instructive report, among whom 
were Mr. Schoolcraft and Captain Douglass, of the corps of Engineers. A pre- 
liminary object was to inform the Indians of the Sault de St. Marie of the inten- 
tion of the Government to establish a military post at that point, and to determine 
the site. On his arrival there, Gpvernor Cass assembled the Indians, and made 
known the object in view. Being under the influence of a chief who was noto- 
riously disaffected toward the United States, they heard the proposition with 
evident ill-will, and broke up the council with every appearance of hostile inten- 
tions. They returned to their encampment, immediately transported their women 
and children over the river, and raised a British flag, as if in token of defiance. 
Governor Cass at once adopted the only course suited to the emergency. Tak- 
ing only an interpreter with him he advanced to the encampment, and pulled 
down, with his own hands, the Anglo-savage flag, directing the interpreter to 
inform the Indians that they were within the jurisdiction of the United States, 
and that no other flag than theirs would be allowed wave over it. Having given 
this bold and practical rebuke, he returned to his party, taking with him the flag, 
and leaving the Indians to funher reflection. The moral influence of this op- 
portune and seemingly perilous step was immediately seen ; new overtures were 
made by the Indians, which led to an amicable and satisfactory adjustment. Mr. 
Schoolcraft, in his scientific and interesting journal of that expedition, relates 
that Governor Cass " walked cooly over to the lodge of the daring, turbulent, and 
hostile chief, hauled down the British flag, and put his foot upon it ; thus vindi- 
cating in an instant the American honor and supremacy by the terror he inspired, 
though he did so at the risk of his life. 

In 1821, the services of Governor Cass were again brought into requisition 
by the Government, to assist in another treaty, to be negotiated at Chicago. He 
embarked at Detroit, in a birch canoe, ascended the Maumee, crossed in*o the 
Wabash, descended that river to the Ohio, went down the, Ohio to the Missis- 
Bipppi, and descended that and the Illinois to Chicago. By the treaty formed 
there, all the country in Michigan, not before ceded, south of Grand river, was 
acquired. 

In 1822, the first Council of Michigan met. This body relieved the Gov- 
ernor and judges of their legislative duties, and gave the Government of the 
territory a more republican form. Governor Cass' messages to t liv? Councils, 
convened under his Administration, were always written in '.\ chaste and digni- 
fied style ; indeed, all the public documents that came from his pen. while Gov- 
ernor of the territory, may be regarded as good specimens of Executive compo- 
sition, and exhibit a highly cultivated literary laste. Bui his literary reputation 
rests on a broader and more appropriate bisis than his gubernatorial writings. 

In J^'JH, Governor Cass concluded an arrangement with the Delawaie Indians 
by which they ceded some valuable tracts on the Muskingum, in Obio. 



it 

In 1825, he proceeded to Prairie du Chien, where, in conjunction with Gov- 
ernor Clarke, a treaty of general pacification was concluded among the North- 
westerly tribes. In his tour of 1320, Governor Cass had observed that one 
abundant source of contention among the Indians arose from uncertain or unde- 
fined boundaries. To remove this cause, as many as practicable of the tribes 
were collected at this time, in order to ascertain, by tradition and custom, and 
establish, by general consent, the limits of each dominion. Much difficulty at- 
tended this negotiation, as each tribe apprehended a diminution of its own power 
and an increase of its neighbor's. Rut the objects of the treaty were, in part, at- 
tained. A common acceptance of certain geographical or other known bounda- 
ries was obtained. The beneficial results of this important treaty will be accruing 
with each coming year. Although many may dissent from the terms of the treaty 
for a time, yet lines of separation, deh'ned with so mu h so'emnity, and by such 
general consent, will at last be appealed to as decisive, and become unalterably 
fixed. War will still prevail, but border contests, the most inveterate and san- 
guinary, may be appeased. 

Sometime in the year 1825, John Dunn Hunter's narrative of the "Manners 
and Customs of several Indians tribes located west, of the Mississippi," appeared, 
which, at the time, attracted much attention. Governor Cass, in the course of his 
tours through the West, had satisfied himself that this work was an imposture. In 
determining to expose it to the world, his mind was led to dwell on the ample 
subject of Indian character, language, and condition, and he wrote the article 
which appeared in the fiftieth number < f the North American Revie'w, (January 
No., 1820.) The subject was full of interest, and written in a style uncommonly 
earnest, ehaste, and eloquent ; and the public was gratified to learn that a theme 
so inter' 1 .-ting and important, had engaged the attention of so cultivated and libe- 
ral a mind. Another article of his, being a review of Beltrami's work, an Ita- 
lian who attached himself to Colonel Long's expedition in 1823, and presenting 
the aborigines under new aspects-, appear ~'d in the fifty-fifth number of the same 
periodical, (April No., 1827 ) This article, which was altogether of a historical 
and statistical character, attracted equal attention with its precursor. 

In the year 1825, Governor Cass again traversed Lake Superior, to fulfil the be- 
nevolent purposes of the Government. . A treaty was held at Fond du Lac with 
those tribes who were too remote from Prairie du Chien, to have met there. 
The great object of these treaties was to remove the causes of contention between 
the tribes, as the limits of each dominion. Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, who 
was associated with Governor Cass on this occasion, has£given a lively and p'c- 
turesques account of the excursion in hislale work, entitled "Memoirs, Travels, 
and the Wrongs and Rights of the Indians." Another treaty was concluded on 
the Wabash, on their return from Lake Superior, by which the Indians ceded a 
3a>-ge tract of land in Indiana. 

In 1327, treaties were negotiated at Green Bay and at St. Joseph's ; Governor 
Cass was an agent in both. On his arrival at Green Bay, instead of finding the 
Winnebagoes, who were to have been parties in the negotiation, he learned 
that they were collecting in hostile bodies, for the purpose of waging war against 
the whites. With his usual promptit.de, he adapted his course to the emergency. 
Embarking in a birch canoe, he ascended the Fox river, crossed the Portage, 
and had partly descended the Wisconsin, when he perceived an encampment of 
Winnebagoes on its bank-;. To shew his confidence in thent, he landed alone 
and approached the wigwams ; but the Indians refused to hold any communi- 
cation with him. After much fruitless endeavor to conciliate he relumed towards 
his canoe, when a young Indian snapped his rifle at his back. Whether the piece 
was loaded, and missed fire, or the act was an empty, but significant token of 
enmity, is not known. 
2 



18 

Governor Cass pursued his course down the river, reached Prairie du Chien, 
and found the settlement there in a state of extreme alarm. A large boat on the 
Mississippi had been attacked by a numerous band, and escaped capture only by 
a gallant but bloody defence ; and a whole family had been murdered and scalp- 
ed, on the skirts of the village. Having organized the inhabitants in the best 
manner, for their own defence, there being no garrison there at the time, he de- 
scended the Mississippi to St. Louis, where the means of defence were to be ob- 

ned ; and at his suggestion a large detachment, of United States troops was 
:>i »ed up the river in lime to prevent further bloodshed. In the meantime Gov- 
ernor Cass returned to Green Bay in the same canoe, by the way of the Illinois 
river and Lake Michigan, having made a circuitof about eighteen hundred miles with 
unprecedented rapidity. His celerity of movement, and the alacrity with which 
the United States troops seconded his call, probably aveited a war that might 
have embraced the whole Northwestern frontier. A negotiation followed, which 
restored tranquility. The apparent violence offered to him by the Indian on the 
Wisconsin, is the only instance of that nature which had occurred during his long 
and intimate intercourse with the Indians. 

In 1828, another treaty was held by him at Green Bay, and another at St- 
Joseph's, by which a cession was procurod for Indiana. In these various trea- 
ties, Governor Cass was instrumental in acquiring for the United States, and 
rescuing from the wilderness, for the great agricultural purposes of the country, 
many millions of acres of land; and in a manner which ought to leave no con- 
sciousness on his mind, that ho has aggravated the lot of a single tribe of Indians. 

Sometime in 1828, a historical society was formed in Michigan, of which 
Governor Cass was elected the President. He delivered the opening address 
before it in 1829. This address, embodying the. early history of Michigan, 
brings it down to the period when the United States came into possession ot it. 
Its publication excited a spirit of research and inquiry, which has already pro- 
due "d the most beneficial results. 

In 1830, Governor Cass was invited by the Alumni of Hanvlton College, New 
York, to deliver an address at their anniversary meeting. He accepted the in- 
vitation, and in the address which he delivered, displayed an affluence of read- 
ing and reflection, which proved his habitual acquaintance with most of the de- 
partments of human knowledge. From that college he subsequently received 
the honorary degree of L. L. D He had previously been admitted an honorary 
member of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia ; of the New 
Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Indiana Historical Societies ; of the American 
Antiquarian Society; and the Columbian Institute. 

In July, 1831, Governor Cass resigned his office as Governor of the Territo- 
ry, after having administered it for eighteen years. When he began his admin- 
istration, he found the country small in population, without resources, and al- 
most sunk under the devastations of war. He left it with a wide-spread popu, 
lation, and thriving with unprecedented prosperity. He has gone along, almost 
step by step, with that immense portion of our country beyond the Alleghanies, 
which, since he came into life, has grown into an empiie of civilization of itself. 
This auspicious condition may not all be attributed to executive instrumentality ; 
but an administration, impartial} vigilant, pervading, and intelligent, may be 
fairly supposed to have shed a happy influence on all around. 



19 
CHAPTER III. 

On the first of August. 1.831, General Cass was called by General Jackson 
to fi'l the responsible post of Secretary of War, made vacant by the resignation 
of General Eaton. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on the thir- 
tieth of the ensuing December. While in that department, his diligence is- 
known to have been unabated ; and in handling questions of great magnil 
and delicacy, his course commended itself to the approbation of the win! > . , 
tion. Many questions of general and permanent interest, and of vital impor- 
tance to the country, some involving the fundamental principles of the Constitu- 
tion were presented for discussion. In their progress they cast upon the Gov- 
ernment a heavy responsibility, and great trouble and labor, and were watched 
with a jealous solicitude by the whole community, which was divided in opinion 
respecting the points involved in their solution. Happily, by the wisdom and 
firmness of the patriot then at the head of the Government, and by the good 
sense of the nation, they passed away, without leaving behind them any effects 
injurious to our institutions. 

The War Department of all others, is burdened with a multitude of private claims* 
Not merely the business of the army proper, in its whole range of distance and ser- 
vice, but contracts and occurrences of endless variety and number, under stated 
agencies or special acts of Congress, embracing Indian affairs and other interests, 
clearing out of rivers and harbors — erecting breakwateis and other works, with 
everlasting claims for extra labor, and other things not in the contracts, surveys, 
national roads, militia claims from the States, pensions — all these, with the busi- 
ness they create, are only part of what falls on the Secretary of War, as his pro- 
vince, to look after and settle. In most cases of this nature, it probably seems to 
the individual interested, that his case is quite clear — he wonders anybody can 
doubt — it only requires to have the papers looked at, to be allowed and paid at once. 
This he honestly thinks, perhaps, and so talks, not, however, omitting complaints 
of the indecision and want of firmness of the Secretary of War. But not so 
does the Secretary of War think himself. To his mind, most probably, the cases 
are not so very clear. Perhaps he remembers what Lord Chancellor Kldon is 
reported to have said, when the London journals were saying that he was too 
slow in coming to his decisions — one of them remarking, that it was as easy to 
decide most of his cases, as upon the difference of black and white. " Yes," 
said the old Chancellor, " if they were black or white ; but I find most of them 
gray /" So it was with General Cass. He probably found the most of his cases 
no easier to decide oft-hand, than this eminent Judge ; but, on the contrary, call- 
ing for careful investigation, to do justice between the Government and the parties. 
This, to the impatience of the latter, may have looked like indecision ; and it is 
no wonder, if occupied, also, with duties more primary, because more national, 
amid the great complication and variety of those that press upon the War De- 
partment, he could not always find the time he may have wished for those pri- 
vate cases, and thus have left a portion of them unsettled on leaving the Depart- 
ment, as his predecessors have done before, and as his successors always will. 

Governor Cass presided over the War Department for above five years, and 
it would be no short work to recount all that he did while there, of public im- 
portance and value. We will, however, present those more prominent speci- 
mens, from which the well-judging will make the right inferences, as to his 
talents and principles. 

In 1832, the hostile incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians on the Northwestern 
frontier, necessarily led to the interposition of the Government. General Cass, 
in his annual report of that year to Congress, recommended, in view of these re- 
peated and unprovoked aggressions, a more efficient organization of our militia 
ns essential to that security which is one cf the principal objects of all govern- 



20 

ments. He opposed the maintainance of a large regular Force, as history af- 
forded us too many lessons of the fatal results of a large standing army. Its 
obvious tendency was to engage us in unnecessary wars, and ultimately to en- 
(!;:n-er public liberty. Our principal dependence for protection should be upon 
»),',, 7.-, eat body of the citizens of the Republic. If war should come upon us, 
our regular force should be increased to an extent proportioned to the emergency, 
which would form a nucleus, around which the militia force could be formed and 

embodied. . . 

The system so wisely adopted and so long pursued, of constructing lurtinca- 
tions at exposed points,*and of preparing and collecting the supplies necessary 
for the military defence, of the country, and thus providently furnishing in peace 
the means of defence in war, was continued with unabated vigor under the ad- 
ministration of General Cass. • 

The controverted question respecting the relative rights of tne Cherokee In- 
diknS and the State of Georgia, excited much attention. Tlie difficulties were 
greatlv augmented by the Supreme Court of the United States, confirming the 
Cberokees in their notion of independence, within the orbit of State authority. 
The ability and discretion of General Cass were signally displayed on that oc- 
casion, in'luminous, powerful, and irreiragable arguments against the doctrine of 
the Supreme Court, from which he dissented, not as a faction ist resistingautho- 
ritv, or as a sciolist unable to comprehend it, but as a patriot, a jurist, and a 
scholar. The policy of the Administration prevailed, and the Secretary of War 
had been its efficient, and, well may I add, its learned and enlightened expounder 
and de'feBddh Congress appropriated five hundred thousand dollars for the re- 
moral of the Inffiaiisfoom Georgia, AlaharoaVand olbettStates, t.. a territory 
west of the Mississippi, without the limits of any State or organized territory, 
and belonging to the United States. 'J he Indians were removed, under every 
humane eare,;tb places better fitted for their homes ; the high claim of Georgia 
to be s iv.PM'rn within her own borders, was fully vindicated against those dis- 
organizing counter-principles, subversive of the first elements of civilization that 
would have denied it; and with such an approving voice did the people of Geor- 
gia regard the conduct of General Cass, that the Legislature of that State unani- 
mously named a county after him, wdiich, since its creation has been noted for 
its undeviating adherence to the Republican cause* 

The subject of nullification now more seriously engrossed the attention of the 
country. The Nulliliers asserted that the Federal Constitution was a compact 
originally formed, not between the people of the United States at large, but be- 
tween the people of the different States, a? distinct and independendent sover- 
eignties ; and that when any violation of the letter or spirit of that compact 
took place, it is not only the 'right of the people, but of the State Legislatures, 
to remonstrate against it ; that the Federal Government was responsible to the 
people wh. never it abused or injudiciously exercised powers entrusted to it, and 
that it was responsible to the State Legislatures whenever it assumed powers 
not conferred. The Convention of South Carolina assembled on the 19th of 
Pxovember. l833j and passed an ordinance which declared, that "all the acts of 
Congress imposing duties on imported goods, more especially the laws of May 
L9lh> H-B. and Jtrly Mth, 1832, to be null and void within the State of South 
Carolina." The Governor was authorized by the Legislature of the State to 
call out the militia to resist any attempt on the part of the Government of the 
United States to enforce the revenue laws. 

These proceedings on the part of the State of South Carolina, brought on an 
issue between tho Stale and Federal Governments that could not be neglected. 
The very existence Dl tin 1 Government depended upon its decision. A single 
State hail set at delianec the authority of the General Government, and de- 
clared that no umpire should be admitted to decide between the contending par- 



2! 

ties. The federative principle of the Constitution, and the whole authority of 

mgress and of the federal judiciary, were put in issue by this question, and, 
Jwever unwilling the leaders might be to destroy the Union, still experience 
had too clearly shown the dif-ficulty of restraining an excited people, not to cre- 
ate apprehension as to the result of these efforts to throw off the authority of 
the General Government. 

At this crisis, the watch-tower of this Republic was tenanted by one whose 
lofty patriotism attracted unbounded confidence, whil°. from his stern presence 
and inflexible purpose the efforts of intimidation, clamor, or blandishment, with- 
drew, defeated and unavailing. The " old hero" felt that there was no room 
for hesitation, and determined at once to come to an issue with the Nullifiers ; 
to place the powers of the Government upon the broad ground that the federal 
judiciary was the only proper tribunal to decide upon the constitutionality of its 
laws ; and to enforce the revenue acts wi;h an entire disregard to the pretended 
rights of sovereignty which were assumed by the State of South Carolina. 

With that view the Secretary of War was ordered to assemble all the dispo- 
sable military force of the United States at Charleston. The revenue laws, un- 
der the protection of the forces of the General Government, were carried into 
effect without any opposition by violence, and no attempt was made to enforce 
the laws under the ordinance of the State Convention. 

Upon this important question, General Cass shared, with pride, the manty, 
vigorous, and triumphant resistance by which the usurpations of South Carolina 
were encountered and finally prostrated. His correspondence upon this subject 
was forbearing, conciliatory, and scrupulously mindful of State rights, and in all 
other respects was highly dignified and appropriate. It is not too much to say 
of it, that it conies well up to the models of our foremost statesmen, being much 
like that of Mr. Madison in the Olmstead case, when resistance was threatened 
to a law of the United States in Pennsylvania, and advanced to the eve of con- 
summation. 

A difficuly with Alabama, at another time, presented a menacing aspect. 
Under an obligation, the United States had contracted, by treaty, to prevent in- 
trusion upon lands that had belonged to Indians within that State, until they 
could be removed. Emigrants, nevertheless, entered upon the lands ; and, un- 
der differences to which this led, the State and Federal authorities were upon 
the point of collision. It was happily warded off", and the public documents at- 
test the union of energy, and prudence in General Cass throughout the whb'.e 
exigency. His appropriate, cogent, and lucid correspondence abundantly up- 
held the rights and dignity of the State, yet threw over the Indians the shield 
to which the laws of the Union entitled them. 

During these portentous periods, the military orders were firm, but discreet, 
and it appeared by a message from the President, in answer to a call upon 
those subjects, that no order had been at any time given to " resist the constituted 
authorities of the State of South Carolina, within the chartered limits of said 
State." The orders to General Scott informed him that, " Should, unfortunate- 
ly, a crises arise, when the ordinary power in the hands of the civil officers should 
not be suji-ient for the execution of the laws, the President would determine the 
course to be taken, and the measures to be adopted; till then he was prohibited 
from acting." 

In relation to the clangers of a collision with the authorities of Alabama, we 
quote the following extract of a letter from the War Department, written by 
General Cass, to Major Mcintosh, and dated October 29, 1833 : 

"Sir: Your letter of the 21st instant, to Major General Macomb, has been 
laid before me ; and, in answer, I have to inform you that you will interpo-e no 
obstacle to the service of legal process upon any officer or soldier under your 
command, whether issuing from the Courts of the State of Alabama, or of tire 



22 

United Slates. On the contrary, you will give all necessary facilities to the ex- 
ecution of such process. It is not the intention of the President that any part 
of the military force of the United States should be brought into collision with 
•the civil authority. In all questions of jurisdiction, it is the duty of the former 
to submit to the latter, and no considerations must interfere with that duty. If, 
therefore, an officer of the State, or of the United States, come with legal pro- 
cess against yourself, or an officer or soldier of your garrison, you will freely 
admit him within your post, and allow him to execute his writ undisturbed." 

In 1836, General Cass left the War Department. It is well known that he 
enjoyed the full confidence of General Jackson, who was anxious he should re- 
tain his seat in the Cabinet till the expiration of the Administration. But his 
health having been broken down by official labois, he could not remain, and he 
retired, with the decisive proofs of the good feeling and satisfaction of the Pre- 
sident. One was a warm letter, thanking him for his services, and expressive 
of the kindest sentiments towards him personally ; and the other was the mis- 
sion to France, to which he was appointed. 

Upon the resignation of General Cass, as Secretary of War, the opponents of 
the National Administration were loud in theirdenunciations against him. Some 
unscrupulous partizans charged that he retired reluctantly, and that General 
Jackson was desirous of getting rid of him ; while others alleged that he was 
destitute of decision and afraid of responsibility. Strange ideas ! As if Gene- 
ral Jackson would have called to the head of the War Department a man of 
this description, or have retained him a day after his quick insight into men had 
discovered any such deficiencies, which could not have escaped him had they 
existed, and not only retained him, but retained the fullest confidence in him to 
the last, of which there is abundant proof. Furthermore — as if his whole life 
did not contradict it — his lon«r Western and frontier service, so full of stirring 
and perilous incident — his efficient share in concluding, while Governor of Mich- 
igan, more than twenty Indian treaties, in regions, and under circumstances, pe- 
culiarly calling for decision of character, and involving responsibilty — and by 
which he obtained for his country territory of great value and extent — as if 
these things, not to repeat the abundant evidences of a prompt and resolute 
spirit in all his public and private acts, were not at war with such ideas. 

An impartial historian, in alluding to General Cass, at the time he held the 
important post in General Jackson's Cabinet, stated that " In the important 
station whichjie now holds, his sphere of usefulness is enlarged, and none of 
his predecessors ever enjoyed a greater share of public confidence. Strict and 
punctual in his business habits, plain and and affable in his manners, with 
powers of mind which grasp, as it were by intuition, every subject to which 
they are applied — united to various and extensive acquirements." 



CHAPTER IV. 

In September, 1836, General Cass was appointed, by General Jackson, Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of St. Cloud. No 
one has ever questioned the ability u ith which he performed the whole range of 
high duty, direct and incidental, attaching to that responsible and honorable post, 
at that conspicuous Court. During bis residence (hero, aro'seflie question of the 
Quintuple Treaty, one of the niQ8t portentous BUbjectE which has ever threatened 
pur honor or interest. England, from professed philanthropic, hut from really 
interested motives, was seeking ( establish a new principle of maritime police, 
by which she could search the vessels of all nations traversing the ocean. By 



23 

persevering efforts she had obtained separate treaties with various Powers of 
Europe, some great and some small — for nothing is too high or too low for hu- 
man ambition — by which the right of search was granted. She then said, 
through her Secretaries, Lord Palmerston a:id Lord Aberdeen, that as she could 
not execute these treaties without searching the vessels of all nations, to ascer- 
tain to which they belonged, she should assume that right, and stop and board 
the vessels of the United States wherever ihey might be found. And to give, 
more moral weight to her pretensions, she projected another treaty with 
the four great Powers of Europe, embracing in it the right of search, and in- 
tended to make it the law of the ocean. The treaty was signed before public 
attention was turned to it, but fortunately it was not ratified ; and it was of vital 
importance to the United States, and all other Powers interested in the freedom 
of the seas, that it should not be ratified by Erancc. It was, of course, well 
known, that from the nature of their Governments, the ratifications of Russia, 
of Austria, and of Prussia, would not be withheld. Eut France, being a con- 
stitutional monarchy, and public opinion operating powerfully there upon the 
Administration, it. was hoped the nation might be induced to act upon it, through 
the Chamber of Deputies. And it was obvious, from the maritime state of the 
world, that if Fiance could be withdrawn from this confederacy, no new prin- 
ciple of public law could be created, to which she and the United States should 
refuse their sanction. A quintuple treaty would be dangerous; but a quadruple 
treaty would be without the least effect or influence. To pruduce. therefore, this 
result, was an object of the highest importance ; and the American Minister at 
Paris, finding himself without instructions from his Government, had to depend 
upon his own resources; and to act upon his own responsibility. His operations 
were twofold : first, to operate upon public sentiment, and then directly upon the 
Government. His pamphlet upon the right of search, was the measure he 
adopted to effect the first object, and his formal protest, (written February 13, 
1842,) against the French ratification of the treaty, the second. The pamphlet 
was published in English, in French, and in German, and was distributed 
throughout Europe. Its effect is well known. The appeal, by protest, to the 
French Government, was successful. That paper has been published, and no 
doubt very generally peru?ed. It is a document truly American. The rights of 
our country are upheld with a proper resolution. While it is sufficiently res- 
pect fill, it plainly warns the French Government of the position il will occupy 
if it sign the treaty. It remarks upon the moral effect which the treaty is in- 
tended to produce upon the United States, and observes, that it is not to be pre- 
sumed that the. five Powers meditate a direct attack upon their independence. 
" But," it continues, " were it otherwise, and were it possible they (the United 
States) might be deceived in this confident expectation, that would not alter, in 
one tittle, their course of action. Their duty would be the same, and the same 
would be their determination to fulfill it. They would prepare themselves, with 
apprehension, indeed, but without dismay — with regret, but with firmness — for 
one of those desperate struggles which have sometimes occurred in the history 
of the world, but where a just cause and the favor of Providence have gained 
strength to comparative weakness, and have enabled it to break down the pride 
of power." 

The patriotic course of General Cass naturally exposed him to the bitterness 
of the anti. slavery fanaticism of the several countries of Europe, more espe- 
cially in England, where the fanaticism has the whole press as its organ, and 
other organs besides, even to defamatory Peers in Parliament, whose audience 
is Europe and the world, as well as Britain. It also provoked the matchless 
wrath of Lord Brougham. That powerful, though prejudiced and passionate 
Peer, and furious abolitionist — that " universal busy-body and intermeddler of 
the age" — beheld in the sound reasoning and statesmanlike tone of the protest, 



24 

death to his hope of seeing perfected the ever-famous Quintuple Treaty. Had 
that high-handed league reached its consummation, new, and a peculiarly ef- 
fective vigor would have been imparted to the principle of universal abolition, 
the undoubted root of the league, of which Lord Palmerston's instructions to 
the English Minister in Portugal, distinctly avowing England's determination to 
persevere in her plans of suppressing the slave trade, until slavery itself was 
extirpated from the world, is the proof. What an avowal ! What an attack 
does it not involve on the domestic institutions of independent nations ? Even 
the English Ambassador at Constantinople, Lord Ponsonby, in writing to his 
Government, was forced to shrink back from a principle so monstrous. How 
highly, then, ought not the people of the United States to estimate this service 
in General Ca.ss ? 

In the able pamphlet referred to " On the Right of Search," General Cass 
holds the following language : " We aie no slaveholder. We never have 1 een. 
We never shall be. We deprecate its existence in principle, and pray for its 
abolition everywhere, where this can be effected justly and peaceably, and safe- 
ly for both parties. But we would not carry fire, and devastation, and murder, 
and ruin into a peaceful community, to push on the accomplishment of the ob- 
ject. But after l.avnig visited three quarters of the old continent, we say be- 
fore God and the world, that we have seen far more, and more frightful misery, 
since we landed in Europe, and we have not visited Inland yet, than we have 
ever seen among this class in the United States. Whatever may be said, there 
is much of the patriarch ial relation between the Southern planter and the slave. 
And as to the physical distress which is seen in Europe, resulting from a want 
of food, and from exposure to a rigorous winter, without adequate clothing, we 
believe it to be so rare, as not to form a just element in the consideration of this 
matter. Bui the subject of the emancipation of two millions and a half of hu- 
man beings, living among another population, of different race and color, and 
with different habits and feelings, is one of the gravest questions which can be 
submitted to society to solve. It can be safely left only to those who are to be 
so seriously affected by it; and there it is left by the Constitution of the United 
States. It is a matter with which the General Government has no concern." 
'' And so with respect to the slave trade. It is a traffic, which can be traced 
back to '.he time of Jacob, whose son was sold in Egypt ; and down, in some 
form or other, during the successive ages, which, have intervened, to the last 
century, when by treaty arrangements with Spain, England obiained, as a 
great commercial favor, the privilege of supplying the Spanish colonies 
with slaves, and to the present, when, after many years of bitter opposition, 
the English Parliament voted the abolition of the slave trade; but when 
some of the greatest names in England were fi und in the minority, viz : 
The Luke of Clarence, afterwards William the Fourth, Lords Thnrlow, 
Elden, Liverpool, and Sidmouth. These statesmen, by thf»ir votes, not only pro- 
nounred the slave trade to be legal and expedient, but mural also, so far as that 
consideration formed, at that time, a motive < f legislative action. That it is ille- 
gal, by the greal code of public law, no state-man, nor publicist, or well inform- 
ed man will seriously contend. Than s to the advancing opinions el the aye, 
its atrocity is generally acknowledged, and the obligation of Christian States to 
extirpate it, almost every where fell and obeyed. But it is not permitted, ill 
order to attain a great good, to commit a great evil. In order to break up this 
traffic, to break down the barriers which centuries have been rearing, and by 

which the weak are every wl ere protected against the strong, the peaceful 
against the warlike. The law of nations is but general opinion, illustrated lv 
able jurists, and sanctified by time, and by universaj acquiescence, T n<-h it 
rudely, and the whole fabric will disappear, leaving the nations of ihe world, in 
their mutual relations, as they existed in the most barbarous ages.'' 



25 

In reply to the accusations of the British authorities, that the failure of the 
Quintuple Treaty to meet with the approbation of the American Government, was 
tantamount to the refusal on their part toco-operate in suppressing the slave 
trade, General Cars continues, " But the United States refuse no such co-operation. 
They have interdicted, as we have seen, this trade to their citizens, and have 
provided exemplary punishment for the transgressors. They have, for many 
years, kept a squadron upon the coast of Africa to aid in its suppression, and they 
are now making arrangements for its augmentation. * * * * But after 

all, what kind of philanthropy is that which seeks,»not mere y to put down the 
African .-lave trade, but to put it down by the employment of one means among 
many, and which means, if persisted in, as threatened, will as surely involve two 
great nations in war, as to-morrow's sun will rise upon both? And who can tell 
the issue of such a war, not merely to the parties themselves, that we shall not 
touch, but to the civilized world ? Who can tell the question of maritime right, 
which will arise during its progress, and of maritime wrongs, which will be in- 
flicted 1 Who can tell how soon its sphere will be enlargad, and the oppressions 
of Africa be lost sight of in the struggles of Europe and America ?" 

" It is strange indeed, but so it is, that one of the modes proposed for the liber- 
ation of the negro, from the traffic of his flesh and blood, will, necessarily lead 
to the bondage of the American seamen, wheie his flesh and blood are not in- 
deed sold, but where they are taken without price, and may be swept away by 
the cannon of his own country. ' When they doubted, they took the trick,' 
words which ail Americans should grave upon their hearts. We may safely 
appeal to any generous Englishman and Frenchman, and ask, what would be 
their sensations, if told, ' Yes, we do seize your citizens, we icill seize them ; when 
tee doubt, we take the trick.' Let each answer for himself; and that answer 
will disclose the feelings of the Americans ; for this trick is a man — an Ameri- 
can citizen. By and by, after law shall have worked its way far enough, the 
trick may become a French citizen ; and what sort of a struggle will come 
when that step is taken?" 

" But should the United States yield to this claim, what security is there for 
them, or for nations like them, interested in the freedom of the seas, that it would 
not be followed by another and another pretension, till the British flag rode tri- 
umphant over the waters of the earth ? How far is to be pushed this crusade of 
benevolence, which would involve East and W ; est in one common calamity, in 
order to attain, in its own way, an object which must come, and that speedily ? 
There are significant signs abroad, that this is but the commencement of a sys- 
tem, destined to a wide extension, already the project has been publicly discuss- 
ed in England, of putting a stop to slavery, by putting a stop to the sale of its 
products. It has been supported in the journals, and advocated, we believe, in 
Parliament. The scheme has not yet ripened into a plan." 

"Even if England were clearly right, as in our opinion she is clearly wrongs 
she might forbear much, without any imputation upon her honor. She. has won 
her way to distinction by a thousand feats in arms, and what is better title to 
renown, by countless feats in peace. Triumphs of genius, of skill, of industry, 
and of enterprise, which have gained her a name that the proudest may envy, 
and that few can hope to equal. She has given birth to an empire in the West, 
an empire whose extent and duration it passes human sagacily even to conjec- 
ture. There are planted her laws, her language, her manners, her institutions. 
A thousand ties of interest unite these kindred people. Let England cherish this 
as her most glorious work. But let ht r recoiled, too, thai a spirit, equal to her 
own. animates the Republic, and though she may be crushed, she will not be 
dishonored." 

These extracts will plainly show the character of the pamphlet, and exhibit 
how instrumental General Cass was in putting down a conspiracy or confeder- 



2G 

acy of European potentates, against the rights, interests, and sovereignty of our 
country on the ocean. He performed the service on his own estimate of duty. 
By the exercise of talents of the first order, at the right moment, such as a great 
general will sometimes seize for deciding a campaign, and perhaps the desti- 
nies of a nation, he broke up one of those dangerous confederacies among Em- 
perors and Kings, to defeat which, is supposed, in the history of states, to call 
for the full interposition of national influence and authority, anJ is rarely, if ever, 
effected without it — seldom with it, unless broken to pieces by arms. The 
honor ot General Cass is therefore as signal as the service he rendered. 

The London Times, the leading Tory journal of England, in announcing the 
publication of the pamphlet, said: " It is a shrewd performance, written with 
some spirit, much bold assertion of facts, and a very audacious unfairness ot" ar- 
gument, which is rather amusing, when contrasted with a certain tone of gen- 
tlemanly candor, which is occasionally adopted even in the very act of perform- 
ing some of his most glaring perversions." 

An American, writing from Europe, in March, 1842, says : " General Cass 
has hastily prepared a pamphlet setting forth the true import and dangers of this 
treaty. It will he read by every statesman in Europe, and, added to the Gen- 
eral's personal influence here, will effectually turn the tables on England. The 
counlry owes the General much for his effectual influence with this Govern- 
ment." 

The mischief that lurked in this Quintuple Treaty must not be passed by. The 
whole eastern coast of America, south of the thirty-second degree ol north lati- 
tude, came within its gigantic sweep, no vessel of the contracting parties could 
ever have been approaching Charleston, or Richmond, or New York, with a 
cargo from any part of the world, south of Savannah, or have been going trom 
any of these ports to any part of the world, south of Savannah, without risk of 
being searched for slaves by British cruisers, the voyage stopped, and the vessel 
ordered to some British court admiralty for adjudication,. Incredible as this may 
seem, the words of the treaty prove it. The space for British search, compre- 
hended more than seventy degrees of latitude. It might have been exercised 
upon all the vessels as above, in the very Gulf of Mexico itself, going to or from 
New Orleans. What a blow to our commercial interests was therefore warded 
off? What a door foreclosed against British dominion upon the seas — and 
against her anti-slavery fanaticism, working upon the seas, that it might do its 
work more thoroughly and quickly upon the land. Here is the key to Lord 
Brougham's rage — the defeat of that portentous treaty by the talents, sagacity, 
and patriotism of General Cass. His attack upon him is without a parallel, 
since Wedderburn's attack upon Dr. Franklin. It exceeded that in outrage, as 
Franklin was not then the representative of an independent nation. 

Strange to say. General Cass was both exposed to indignity and injustice 
from his own Government for the noble part he acted in France. The proof is 
on record, or we might want tiiith in such a charge. It is contained in the cor- 
respondence between Mr. Webster and himself, carried on mainly after his 
return from France ; but never was retribution sooner brought about, as far as 
the parties were concerned, though the public will not soon forget to what an 
extent great principles were forgotten in the treatment General Cass received. 
His own victory over Mr. Webster was complete. No two judgments can differ 
about this — the whole correspondence being read. Let me give a single speci- 
men. It forms an item in our political history, memorable and instructive, con- 
sidering the distinguished actors in the scene. 

General Cass had objected to the eighty gun squadron clause of the Ashbur- 
ton treaty, that it had no provision renouncing the British claim to search our 
vessels for slaves. Hereupon the Secretary of State, mounted upon stilts. He 
says, in reply, What ! ask renunciation by treaty, of an unjust pretension ! No, 



27 

I knew too well what I was about ; the nation doing that, would weaken its own 
cause ; it would be like asking a treaty stipulation, not to destroy our towns in 
time of peace, or to abstain from any other enormity ; the United States stand 
upon their own rights and power in all matters of that sort ; they ask, they 
want no treaty stipulations — fie, Mr. Cass, I should have thought better things 
of you ; O, fie. Such was the purport of the official rebuke, and note the 
italics. 

Now hear General Cass. He rejoins : You talk so ; You, Mr. Webster ; 
you, who in this very negotiation wan ed Lord Ash burton to go into the question 
of Impressment ! You, who urged him to it, contrary to his wishes and 
known determinations ; you who made him write about it, and would write your- 
self, although he did not desire to write ; you, who wanted an express treaty 
stipulation, yes, a renunciation, at this day of our power, against renewals 
of that outrage, an outrage (horror of horrors) for which, thirty years ago, we 
made her answer with her blood ! ! You asume superior spirit and sagacity ; you 
put on superior patriotism, you talk of treaty stipulations. 

Such, in effect, was the retort. Justice cannot be done to its language. The 
whole correspondence should be read, in order to appreciate its merits. In 
acknowledging the letter that contained it, Mr. Webster remarked, that he had 
4; hastily glanced at one or two of its first pages, but would peruse it more care- 
fully ; and if he thought there was occasion, he would write to him again." But 
he never wrote again. The whole letter had a power of right reason in it, and 
right feeling, which it was impossible for Mr. Webster, with all his admitted 
and great ability, to anwser. Silence was his only refuge. To this, there could 
be no objection ; but with signal injustice to General Cass, his letter was treat- 
ed as private. It was not put upon the files, and therefore not published by the 
Government, although Mr. Webster's letter, which had so justly provoked this 
overwhelming retort, was published, nor was it the only letter of the General's 
not comprehended in the Government's publication of this remarkable and excit- 
ing correspondence. The distinguisued " Sage of Lindenwald" was not treated 
worse when the Senate rejected him as Minister to England, than General Cass 
was treated by the Government on getting back from the French Mission. Mr. 
Van Buren had rendered no illustrious service in England, as General Cass had 
done in France, no opportunity having been afforded him. 

Where Mr. Webster was, and what doing, when England was lowering her 
proud flag upon the ocean, to our stars and stripes, as an atonement for the un- 
equalled outrage of impressment, a renunciation of which, by treaty, he begged 
from Lord Ashburton, without getting it, the public documents could tell, and 
the journals of Congress expose his moral treason. Where General Cass was, 
and what doing, our history can also tell, and tell with nothing but advantage 
and glory to him. 

Yes, in arresting the ratification of the Quintuple Treaty, General Cass rescu- 
ed his country from search, and all its high-handed evils, apparent and hidden — 
thus rendering her incalculable good. Against impressment, he was the 
first to use his sword victoriously, in a war undertaken to avenge it — vanquish- 
ing the enemies of his country, who had perpetrated that outrage upon us, as he 
- vanquished, with his pen, the distinguished Secretary of State, who fell fast 
asleep, and permitted all his sensibilities to grow cold over the same outrage. 

Soon after General Cass entered upon his ministerial duties, he was called 
up to vindicate the course of conduct pursued by General Jackton's adminis- 
tration, in the prosecution of the Florida War. At the court martial convened 
at Frederick, Maryland, for the trials of Generals Scott and Gaines; General 
Clinch, in his testimony, charged him with neglecting to make adequate prepa- 
rations for the defence of Florida, upon his representations, during the progress 
of the difficulties with the Seminole Indians, and for some time after the com- 



2S 

mencement of hostilities. This unfounded charge and gratuitous assault, met 
with a severe rebuke at the hands of General Cass. In his letter, dated Paris, 
6th of March, 1837, after fully vindicating his conduct, he concludes: "with 
these reflections and statements, I leave the charge of General Clinch to the 
judgment of the American people. If they think that the incapacity, or misfor- 
tunes, or dissensions of military commanders are to be visited upon my head, I 
have only to submit with as much resignation as may be. But I hope better 
things from the impartiality of my countrymen. I have received, during a public 
life of more than thirty years, many favors I neither expected nor merited. I 
am encouraged to hope that when I ask only rigid justice, I shall not be found a 
vain suppliant." 



CHAPTER V. 

General Cass possesses stores of knowledge beyond mere politics. This is 
attested by various productions from his pen. It would be but common place to 
say, that the mind imbued with letters has a better groundwork for states- 
manship, than the one whose only food is current politics. Where it is eminently 
practical, also, as with General Cass, we have materials for statesmanship of 
the first order. It was/i fine remark of Baron Humboldt's, when in the United 
States, (the great traveller ami author,of whose renown in Prussia the lamented 
Wheaten, our late Minister to that country, has informed us.) who, after spend- 
ing a day with Mr. Jefferson, while President, said : that he had " never be- 
fore seen so much power united, in one man, with so much knowledge ;" add- 
ing, " how advantageous to the world is such a union." Gratifying tribute to our 
great Republican leader from so high a source ! As we have not yet produced 
a second Jefferson, let us cherish the men who would imitate him in his intel- 
lectual cultivation, as well as political opinions. The liberalizing influence of 
letters, is well calculated, in a country where political passions are so fierce as 
in ours, to soften the asperity of strife, and stop party from running into extremes. 
As the spheres of duty increase with such men, new and higher qualities are 
ever apt to be developed. So it was with General Cass, when transferred from 
the home service to the Court of Fiance, where he was enabled, by mental 
powers, highly improved and disciplined, to analyze and expose the mischiefs of 
one of the most deeply laid schemes against the maritime liberties and com- 
mereial interest, as wdl as, ultimately, against the domestic institutions ot his 
country, that could possibly have been engendered by mingled craft, ambition, 
and fanaticism, in the Cabinets of Princes. 

It has been whispered and shrugged by some of the political opponents of 
General Cass, that during his residence at the Court of France, he was a little 
of a courtier. General Ca's a courtier! He win. was wont to paddle his 
birch canoe on the Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Lake Superior: Ac, who has 
worn his hunting shift in company with the biillaK cut his piece of venison rib 
from the stake, an I roasted it in the woods ; the identical Lewis Cass who was 
soused in Sciota Salt Creek, saddle-bags, horse, blanket and all, when a young 
fellow practising law in Ohio and western Virginia, and afterward regaled him- 
self on his supper of bears' meat; and who, at a later day, as Governor of 
Michigan, often went through scenes akin to these; that he. the same mortal 
man, should, at this lime of day, turn courtier, sounds, to say the least, a little 
odd ! Lyncbas was transformed into a rock, Lot is into a tree, and the eyes of 
Argus into a peacock's train; but the strangest metamorphosis of all, would 
be General Cass into a courtier. He cannot be made out to be a courtier, 
while Minister in France, any more than when he was succeeding, by sterling 



29 

sense and sagacity, in negotiating good treaties for his country with the Indians. 
A man of his mould knows how to deal with the most refined people, as with 
the red men of our forests. 

His work entitled " France, its King, Court, and Government," is celebrated 
for the variety of its anecdotes, descriptions, and reflections. There is not a 
line in it adverse to the rightful preference of the Government of his own coun- 
try over all other forms, but just the contrary, again and again. A large part 
of it, is devoted to personal anecdotes of Louis Philippe and his family ; and 
perhaps it is in the commendation which the writer so liberally bestows in 
these quarters, that may have started the notion — of courtier. 

We must not suppose, republicans as we are, that there can be no merit on 
the throne ; least of all, where the incumbent in this instance may be said to 
be a self made man in some respects, schooled in that school which has raised 
more men into greatness than any other — misfortune. General Cass could not 
but foreknow tiiat this work, in all probability, would, in some way or other, come 
under the eye of Louis Philippe when in print. He, therefore, did well to carry 
commendation as far as the truth would permit, as well as describe, in colors 
as attractive as they would bear, those court scenes which his taste as a gentle- 
man may have led him to admire in the Royal palaces of France, where official 
propriety obliged him to give his attendance ; those same palaces, in one of 
which Burke, some fifty years ago, beheld a dauphin ess of r ranee, "just above 
the horizon, glittering like a star." Jefferson had been in those beautiful 
scenes at the French Court, and knew the same dauphiness which Burke has 
described in such splendid diction, and in such a spirit of romantic chivalry. 
Instead of conduct like the above springing from any courtier-like motive in 
General Cass, it should be carried to another and very different account — to 
that of sagacity in serving his country. Every Minister at a foreign Court per- 
forms a duty of no slight import in endeavoring, in all ways fit and honorable, to 
excite towards himself personal good will and esteem, on the part of the Gov- 
ernment and Sovereign where he resides. It tends to give him a power; and 
who can undertake to say how far General Cass' success in propitiating the 
good will of the French Court, throughout its royal members, may have been 
among the causes which enabled him to turn Fiance aside from her first pur- 
pose of co-operating with the great powers of Europe in the dangerous work 
to his country of the Quintuple Treaty. 

In one of the pages of the volume referred to, we have a very prognostic remark 
respecting the late French King, where it is said, after describing the necessity he 
was once under of carrying his. own baggage on his back from the head of Seneca 
Lake to T>oga Point, on the Susquelmnnah, while traveiling in our country, that 
*' the load was no doubt heavy," but, perhaps, " not so much so as the burden he now 
bears" Subsequent events have proven that he has fallen beneath the oveibur- 
dencd weight. In his notice of Napoleon, he concludes with a happy illustra- 
tion of the charm which bound his soldiers to him : "I have been more powerfully 
improved than ever," says the General, " since my arrival in France, with the 
prodigious force of Napoleon's character, and with the gigantic scope, as well 
as the vast variety of his plans. I have often questioned the old military vete- 
rans of the Hotel des Invalides, those living remains of Jena, and Wagram,and 
Austerlitz, and a hundred other fields, respecting him; and it was easy to see, 
by their sudden animation, and by their narrative, how proud they were to re- 
count any little incidents which had connected them with him. His visit to 
jheir guard fire, and his accrptance of a piece of their campaign bread, consti- 
tuted epochs in their lives, to be lost only with the loss of reason or existence." 
General Cass' account of the campaign at New Orleans, during the war of 
1812, published before he went to France, is a beautiful piece of historical 
composition. Thoroughly distinct and analytical, it is glowing also in thoughts 



30 

and style, yet free from exaggeration on a subject tempting to it ; while it does 
ample justice to the glorious achievements of that campaign, and to the great 
" military genius" of America, who planed and so triumphantly carried it 
through. 

His address delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, on the 4th of July, 1843, on 
the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal, is a masterly production, which, 
for rich reflections on the genius of our institutions, in comparison with those 
of the old world, might have warmed the heart of Jefferson himsel. The sin- 
gle remark in it, that the pyramids "tell no tale but the old tale of oppession" 
is beautifully characteristic. Bonaparte exclaimed, at the battle of the pyra- 
mids, "Soldiers ! remember that twenty centuries are looking down upon you." 
This was very fine, but denoted the conqueror warming up his men to a new 
victory. General Cass' remark denoted the republican sage. It was JefTerso- 
nian, by its classic brevity and truth. 

In the same address, alluding to our differences with England in relation to 
the Oregon territory, he says : •' Perhaps, while I address you, measures are in 
progress to wrest lrom us our territory west of the Rocky Mountains. Island 
after island, country after country, is falling before the ambition of England. 
She is planting her standard wherever there is a people to be subdued, or the 
fruits of their industry to be secured. With professions of philanthropy, she pur- 
sees the designs of ambition. And she is encircling the globe with her stations 
wherever she can best accomplish her schemes of aggrandizement. It is my 
deliberate opinion, that no nation, since the fall of the Roman power, has dis 
played greater disregard for the rights of others, or more boldly aimed at uni- 
versal dominion. Our claim to the country west of the Rocky Mountains is as 
undeniable as our right to Bunker Hill or to New Orleans; and who will call 
in question our right to these blood-stained fields? And I trust it will be main- 
tained with a vigor and promptitude equal to its justice. War is a great evil, 
but not so great as national dishonor. Little is gained by yielding to insolent 
and unjust pretensions. It is better to defend the first inch of territory than the 
last. Far better in dealing with England to resist aggression, whether of terri- 
tory, of impressment, or of search, when first attempted, than to yield in the hope 
that forbearance will be met in a just spirit, and will lead to an amicable com- 
promise. Let us have no red lines upon the map of Oregon. Let us hold on 
to the integrity of just claim. And if war comes, be it so." 

The concluding portion of the address is very thrilling and eloquent: ■ We 
come here to rejoice together. Memorable deeds make memorable days. There 
is a power of association given to man, which binds together the past and the 
present, and connects both with the future. Great events hallow the sites where 
they pass. Then returning anniversaries, so long as these are remembered, 
are kept with sorrow or with joy, as they were prosperous or adverse. To day 
a new work is born — a work of peace, and not of war. We are celebrating 
the triumph of art, and not of arms. Centuries hence, we may hope that 
the river you have made, will flow East and West, bearing upon its bosom the 
riches of a prosperous people, and that our descendants will come to keep the 
day, which we have come to mark, and that, as it returns they will remem- 
ber the exertions of their ancestors while they gather the harvest. Associations 
aro powerful in the older regions ol the eastern continent, and strongly affect 
the imagination. They belong, however, to the past. Here, they are strong 
and vigorous, and belong to the future. There, hope is extinct, and history has 
closed its record. Time has done its work. Hence, we have no past ; alt has 
been done within the memory of man. Our province of action, is the present — 
of contemplation, the future. No man can stand upon the scene of one of those 
occurrences which has produced a decisive effect upon the fate of nations, and 
which history has rendered familiar to us from youth, without being withdrawn 



31 

from the influence of" the present, nnd carried back to the period of conflict, of 
doubt, and of success, which attend some mighty struggle. All this is the tri- 
umph of mind, the exertion of intellect, which elevates us in the scale of being, 
and furnishes us with another and purer source of enjoyment. Even recent 
events, around which time has not gathered its shadows, sanctify the places of 
their origin. What American can survey the field of battle at Bunker Hill, or 
at New Orleans, without recalling the deeds which will render these names im- 
perishable ? Who can pass the islands of Lake Erie, without thinking upon 
those who sleep in the waters below, and upon the victory which broke the 
power of the enemy, and led to the security of an extensive frontier? There 
no monument can be erected, for the waves roll, and will roll over them. But 
he who met the enemy and made them ours, and his devoted companions, will 
live in the recollection of the American people, while there is virtue to admire, 
patriotism or gratitude to reward it." 

" I have stood upon the plain of Marathon, the battle field of liberty. It is 
silent and desolate. Neither Greek nor Persian is there to give life and anima- 
tion to the scene. It is bounded by sterile hills on one side, and lashed by the 
eternal waves of the Egean sea on the other. But Greek and Persia were once 
there, and that dreary spot was alive with hostile armies, who fought the great 
fight which rescued Greece from the yoke of Persia." 

" I have stood upon the hill of Zion, the city of Jerusalem, the scene of our 
Redeemer's sufferings, and crucifixion, and ascension. But the sceptre has de- 
parted from Judah, and its glory from the capital of Solomon. The Assyrian, 
the Egyptian, the .Greek, the Roman, the Arab, the Turk, and the Crusader, 
have passed over this chief place of Israel, and have reft it of its power and 
beauty. Well has the denunciation of the prophet of misfortunes been fulfilled, 
when' he declared that " the Lord had set his face against this city for evil, and 
not for good," when he pronounced the words of the Most High, " I will cause 
to cease from the city of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of 
mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of 
the brid.i ; for the land shall be desolate." 

In 1842, General Cass was invited by a number of his friends of Danville, 
Pennsylvania, to be present with Col. Richard M. Johnson, at a celebration of 
the anniversary of the battle of the Thames. He forwarded to the Committee* 
of Invitation, the following reply : 

Pakis, September 17, 1S42. 

" Gentlemen : It is only to-day I have received your invitation to be present 
at the anniversary celebration of the battle of the Thames, at Danville, on the 
5th of October next ; and this circumstance must be my apology, should my 
acknowledgement of the favor not reach you till after the occurrence of that day. 

" It woufd afford me pleasure to meet my old associates in arms, upon that oc 
casion which it is intended to celebrate, who defeated the British and Indian 
forces upon the Thames, and restored security to the northwestern frontier. 
And it would be equally pleasant to join them in tendering to our fellow-citizens 
our thanks for this kind recollection of past services, and in interchanging with 
them congratulations upon the advance which our country has made in all the 
elements of power and prosperity since that period. But as I am deprived by 
distance and by the shortness of time, of that satisfaction, I must content myself 
with wishing all the pleasure, which such a commemoration can yield, both to 
those who give it and to those to whom it is given. I trust, however, I shall 
soon be enabled to terminate my European residence, and to return to the Uni- 
ted States. The ratification of the recent treaty with Great Britain, the news 
of which, has this day reached us, having removed all apprehensions of imme- 
diate difficulties, I have felt that my further residence here was unnecessary, and 



32 

by this conveyance I have requested to he relieved from the mission, and have 
asked permission to return home. Presuming there can be no objection to this 
measure, I hope to reach the United States by the beginning of December. 

"Expressions of public gratitude by comnemoratious like that you desgn c to 
celebrate, are the noblest reward which an American citizen can receive fur any 
services he may be called upon to render in defence of his country. The late 
war was forced upon us by the injustice and ambition of a foreign power. We 
should have forfeited our own self-respect, as well as the good opinion of the 
world, had we not met injuries by resistance, and defended by arms the most 
precious attributes^ of our independence. The energy of the Government and 
the spirit of the country proved equal to the crisis ; and we can now look back 
with pride to the victories at New Orleans, and upon the Thames, and Niagara, 
and to many other splendid feats of arms, by land and water, where American 
prowess was displayed, and the American character vindicated. Certainly these 
appeals to force, by which nations assert their own rights, and too often attack 
those of others, are deeply to be deplored. But, however we may regret them, 
come they must and will. And woe to the people who are not prepared to meet 
them. Little is gained by receding. National honor had better be defended 
when first attacked. This, I am sure, is the sentiment of our country. I sin- 
cerely hope that no occasion will occur for its practical demonstration. But we 
must put our trust in our own energy and in our state of preparation, and not in 
the justice or forbearance of foreign powers. And if the contest should come, 
I trust we shall draw wisdom from the past, and uniting in danger, as we are 
united in interest, prove to the world that our institutions, which secure to us in 
peace a greater measure of happiness than any nation before enjoyed, are equally 
efficacious in war for the defence of our honor and independence. 

" I am happy to see by your invitation that Colonel Johnson, who contributed 
so powerfully to the success of the battle of the Thames, will 1>e present at the 
commemoration. I believe I am the oldest surviving officer in rank "'ho was 
in that action, it has pleased Providence to take from the nation, under pecu- 
liarly afflicting circumstances, our commanding general. He would have been 
ready, had he lived, to render the full tribute of applause to your distinguished 
guest from Kentucky, for he was always generous to the services of others. But 
as he is taken from us, were I present, it would gratify me to perform this duty. 
For I accompanied, but without any share in the direction of its operations, 
the mounted regiment in the charge which decided the fate of the combined 
forces, and I saw the gallant commander lying bleeding upon the ground desper- 
ately wounded, at the head of the line. But fortunately he needs not this testi- 
mony, for his actions are part of our history, and his worth is acknowledged by 
his countrymen. 

"If this letter should reach you before the festival has passed, and should the 
occasion be proper, you are at liberty to present it in any way you may think 
appropriate." 



CHAPTER VI. 

We have already enumerated the important services rendered by General 
Cass during his mission to France. The state of his private affairs requiring 
his presence at home, and the difficulties with England having been adjusted, on 
the 17th of September, 1342, signified his intention of returning home. The 
paramount reasons which induced General Cass to pursue this course are ex- 



33 

pressed in the following extracts from letters to Mr. Webster, the Secretary of 
State : 

"It is unnecessary to push these considerations further; and in carrying them 
thus far, I have found the task an unpleasant one. Nothing but justice to myself 
could have induced me to do it. I could not clearly explain my position here 
without recapitulation. My protest of 13th February distinctly asserted that the 
United States would resist the pretensions of England to search our vessels. I 
avowed, at the same time, that this was but my personal declaration, liable to be 
confirmed or disavowed by my Government. I now find a treaty has been con- 
cluded with Great Britain and the United States, which provides for the co-ope- 
ration of the latter in efforts to abolish the slave trade, but which contains no 
renunciation by the former of the extraordinary pretension resulting, as she said, 
from the exigencies of these very efforts; and which pretension I ielt it my duty 
to denounce to the French Government. In all this I presume to offer no further 
judgment than as I am personally affected by the course of the proceedings, 
and I feel they have placed me in a lalse position, whence I can escape but by 
returning home with the least possible delay. I trust, therefore, that the Presi- 
dent will have felt no hesitation in granting me the permission which I asked 
for." 

Permission was granted him by our Government in the following complimen- 
tary letter from Mr. F. Webster, the acting Secretary of State : 

Department of State, Washington, October 11, 1842. 
'" Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 17th of 
-September last, requesting permission to return home. 

" I have submitted the despatch to the President, and am by him directed to 
say that, although he much regrets that your own wishes should, at this time, 
terminate your mission to the Court of France, where for a long period you have 
rendered your country distinguished service, in all instances to its honor and to 
the satisfaction of the Government, and where you occupy so favorable a posi- 
tion, from the more than ordinary good intelligence which is understood to sub- 
sist between you, personally, and the members of the French Government, and 
from the esteem entertained for you by its illustrious head ; yet he cannot refuse 
your request to return once more to your home and your country, so that you can 
pay that attention to your personal and private affairs, which your long absence 
and constant employment in the service of your Government may now render 
most necessary." m . 

The New York Courier and Enquirer, one of the most decided Whig jour- 
nals in the United States, thus announces General Cass' withdrawal from the 
mission to France : - # ' ', 

"The recent departure of General Cass for America, after a long and honor* 
able representation of his country at the court of France, was marked by one of 
the most gratifying testimonials of respect ever received from his fellow-citizens 
abroad by a diplomat ic agent of the United States. 

General Cass had won all hearts at Paris. His hospitable mansion was ever 
open— his fellow-citizens found in him an ever ready friend and counsellor; his 
name was mentioned with delight and respect by the authorities of France, and 
there are few, if any, of our foreign representatives who have had the good lor- 
tgne to deserve and receive the sentiments of high personal consideration, so 
universally felt and expressed towards him. And his countrymen, too, knew 
and felt, that in the last crowning act of his diplomatic life, the General had done 
their native land a signal service. They loved the man ; they admired the 
dauntless envoy of their common country. 

As soon as it was known that he had determined to leave the post he had so 
Ion" and so satisfactorily filled, to return once more to \x\> hpifne, it was the unam- 
S 3 



34 

mous feeling of his fellow-citizens in Paris, that it was due to themselves to tes- 
tify, in some small degree, their high regard to their Minister; and a meeting 
■was accordingly held at the American Athieneum, to consult upon what measures 
would most appropriately cany into effect their intentions. 

It was the general wish that a public dinner should be offered to General 
Cass, and a committee, consisting of gentlemen of all political parties, and from 
every section of the Union, was accordingly appointed to correspond with him, 
to make the proper arrangements. 

The Committee met at once and addressed the following letter to the General : 

Paris, October 20, 2342. 
To his Excellency, General Cass : 

Dear General: Your fellow-citizens, now in Paris, having heard of your in- 
tended departure for the United Stales, and leeling a common desire to exhibit to 
you some evidence of their high respect and warm. esteem, have appointed the 
subscribers a committee to invite you to partake of a public dinner at such time 
as may best suit your convenience. 

We have the honor to be, with sentiments of great consideration, your obe- 
dient servants, 

E. T. Throot, A. S. Wellington, 
J. B. Greeks, Roffignag, 

F. S. Corbin, B. C. Wainvvrigiit, 
Robert Hay, F. A. Loveking, 

F. C. Stewart, R. W. Hush, 

N. Niles, F. W. S. Coolidge. 

To which the following answer was returned : 

Paris, October 21, IS 42. 

Gentlemen : I have just received your favor of yesterday, by which you 
make known to me that you are authorized as a committee of our countrymen 
in Paris, to invite me to a public dinner before my departure. I am very sensi- 
ble to this kindness, and beg you to accept for yourselves, and for the gentlemen 
associated v\ ith you, my thanks for this proof of their good feelings. I owe it 
more to their generous appreciation of my limited efforts to promote the cause ot 
our country, and the convenience ol our countrymen in a foreign laud, than to 
any success I can flatter myself I have attained. It becomes me the more- 
readily to yield to their wishes, and I therefore accept the invitation with which 
you have honored me. 

As you are good enough to leave to me to determine upon the time, as soon 
as I have definitely fixed ihe period of my departure, I will make known to you 
the day which will be most convenient to me, in the hope that it will suit also 
the convenience of yourselves and your constituents. 
With great regard, gentlemen, 

1 have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

The General having made his arrangements to leave Paris on the 12th o^ 
November, the eleventh was fixed upon for the dinner, on which day upwards of 
eighty of his fellow countrymen sat down to one of the most recherche enter- 
tainments ever provided at the Trois Fmcs Provenrauce. 

It is much to be regretted, however, that the only apartment almost in Paris 
that was proper for this purpose, was not sufficiently large to accommodate a 
greater number, as many who were anxious to join the festivities were disap- 
pointed in being necessarily excluded. 

The company sat down at seven o'clock, wben the Chair was taken by the 
President of lh< day, R. G. Beasley, F-'\-. the respected Consul at liavie, who 
was assisted by Nathaniel * ' -. J. B. Greene, a nd F. P. Corbin, E*qs., as 
Vice President 



35 

The only guest who was invited, except the General, Mr. Ledyard, (Secretary 
of Legation,) and Mr. Lewis Cass, jr., was the son of the illustrious friend of 
Washington and America, George Washington Lafayette, who unfortunately 
was unable to attend. 

1st toast. The President of the United States. 

2d toast. The King of the French. 

The President then addressed the company as follows : 

How has it come to pass, gentlemen, that I have been called to preside at 
this festive board, when I see so many around me so much fitter to occupy this 
chair? I doubtless owe this honor more to the partiality of some kind friends 
among you than to any merit of my own, and I have accepted it partly in this 
belief, and partly induced by the occasion so grateful to my own heart. Let me 
trust, then, that, if a friendly partiality has placed me here, a friendly indulgence 
will he extended to the deficiencies which I may here betray. 

It is needless for me to remind you, gentlemen, that we have come here, with- 
out distinction of party, to testify our affectionate respect for our distinguished 
guest, General Cass, who has asked leave of our Government to return home. 

His long stay among us has taught us to know his value, and makes us regret 
the more our sepa?-alion — I will not say our loss — for all, fellow-citizens, all 
having the same home, we may hope to meet him again. 

But, besides the respect and affection of his countrymen, General Cass has 
enjoyed not only the highest consideration of this court, but the general esteem 
of this community. Here then, gentlemen, his absence will be felt and consid- 
ered a loss. 

The post of Minister at Paris, or London, is not sufficiently understood in our 
country. Our relations involving such a variety of interests, it is important that 
our Ministers at these posts should be, like faithful sentinels, always on the qui 
vive. 

And American ministers are obliged to be on the alert in a degree far beyond 
the usual duty of the representatives of other powers, not only from their distance 
from home, but from the economical scale of our public service, which withholds 
those means and facilities that make European diplomacy comparatively easy ; 
and, gentlemen, from the latter cause we have seen that the services of these two 
posts have generally impaired the private fortunes of our ministers ; for — and I 
am proud to say it — they have not counted the cost to themselves of a proper re- 
presentation ot their country. 

These are posts, then, of difficulty, responsibility, and personal sacrifice. 
How General Cass has filled his, need I ask you, gentlemen ? I am sure I need 
not; for present or absent you have all been attentive observers of so important 
a representative of your country's interest and honor. 

Of the manner in which the ordinary duties of the office have been fulfilled, 
I believe, then, that here and elsewhere there has been but one opinion. 

But, gentlemen, not long since there devolved upon our dist'nguished guest an 
extraordinary duty ; and as the performance of that duty, bringing him as it did 
beyond the line of diplomatic action established by the usage of old govern- 
ments, has brought him under observation, I shall take the liberty of briefly 
alluding to the occasion, confident as I am that it was one most fortunate for his 
own reputation, most auspicious to our country's welfare. 

It was an occasion requiring original conception, calling for original action; 
one where a timid Minister, retiring within diplomatic usa have wait- 

ed for instructions — would have hesitated — would have ;< >f fion of serv- 

ing his country. 

But General Cass, gentlemen, was equal to the oce tsion. He saw that at 
such an emergency, his course of nation was not to follow precedents and Miles, 
however santioned by "lime honored" usage. 



36 

These were well enough for governments contiguous to each other; but he 
was three thousand miles from his instructions, and the case was urgent. He 
felt then that the case made its own rule ; that his circumstances defined his 
duty; and he looked to his duty with the enlarged view ol a Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary. 

He saw France on the point of committing herself to a policy which would 
change our relations with her — which might make us enemies — and he believed 
her Government did not see the danger. He therefore felt bound to warn, and 
even protest against a slop tending to disturb the peace of the two great nations ; 
the one our ancient friend and ally, the other our own, represented by him with 
plenary powers. Under such circumstances General Cass acted. 

Gentlemen, the professed object of the policy in which France was going to 
become a party was well addressed to the ardent sympathies of a generous na- 
tion : but our Minister saw its danger. He rang out the alarm, and alter the 
tocsin was sounded — why then, gentlemen, everybody saw the fire. 

Gentlemen, our distinguished guest is now about to withdraw from the diplo- 
matic service, retiring upon the only pension known to our laws — the approba- 
tion of his fellow citizens. 

Let us hope he will have no reason to be dissatisfied with the pay. 
Let us trust it will be such, and in such measure, as we now mete out to him 
in the pride and fulness of our hearts. 

I thank you, gentlemen, for the patience with which you have listened to my 
humble voice on this occasion. 
Let us drink. 

3d toast. Honor to our illustrious fellow citizen, and a happy return to a 
•grateful country. 

[Drank with great enthusiasm, and with three times three cheers.] 
General Cass rose, and said in reply : 

1 thank you, Mr. President, for the kind sentiments you have been pleased to 
express towards me, and I thank my fellow citizens, whose organ you have been, 
for the dis'inguished proof of their esteem which their presence and this occa- 
sion fmnish me. It is a testimonial which I shall cherish as one of the proudest 
incidents of a life of almost foity years devoted to the public service, and chequer- 
ed by many vicissitudes in peace and war. This is its closing scene, and I now 
return to pass what remains to me of time in comparative obscurity. I am well 
aware that during my career I have accomplished little to deserve the considera- 
tion of my countrymen at home, or the estimate you have been pleased to form 
of my services abroad. 1 can claim only the merit of good intentions, and that, 
fortunately, is a virtue so often found among our public men, as to render its ab- 
sence a signal cause of reproach, while its possession is but the exercise of a 
duty. Events, to which you have just alluded, called upon me recently to inter- 
pose, in the name of our country by a decisive measure, to prevent the establish- 
ment of a maritime pretension which would have been as injurious to our inter- 
ests in its execution, as it was insulting to our honor in its enunciation. This 
attempt to gain the dominion of the seas has failed, as every similar attempt 
will, 1 trust, hereafter tiiil. An American Representative encounters liule hazard 
in asserting the jjst claims of his country. He will find a response, as I have 
done, in the hearts of his countrymen, and a reward in their approbation, which 
Government can neither give nor take away. 

We, who have put the ocean between ourselves and our native land, can, in 
my opinion, best appreciate the blessings which Providence has conferred upon 
our beloved country. Without seeking to decry the instiutions of ihe old world, 
or to describe, its condition as worse than it is, no Ameriean can fail to be struck 
by the immense superiority in all the elements of human happiness which our 
Confederated Republic presents over the eastern hemisphere. He who leaves 



37 

our shores for a residence abroad, and does not return a wiser and a better citi- 
zen, will have looked upon life with as little wisdom as profit. The questions, 
social and political, which agitate these large and densely settled regions, are 
questions of life and death; Antagonist principles are in contact, liable at every 
moment to break into fierce action, and which, in their operation, may, and pro- 
bably will, affect the whole frame of society. Changes may come, which can 
only be produced by desperate struggles between those who have, and those who 
seek the power ; between those who have much and those who have nothing ; 
between want and misery striving for existence, and wealth and power striving 
for defence. Happily for us, this state of things is unknown in our country. 
We are, indeed, divided into parties, and this, perhaps, is one of the conditions 
of the preservation of freedom. But we have no organic distinctions by which 
classes are created, and maintained ; we have no physical misery nor political 
oppression to array one portion of the community against another, and to teach 
it to seek relief in the destruction of existing institutions. Our questions, in- 
deed, are debated with a zeal which proves that all are in earnest, and that they 
result from honest differences of opinion, respecting persons and principles, and 
sometimes, unfortunately, with a bitterness which calm patriotism may deplore. 
But, after all, they pass away, leaving unharmed the institutions of the country, 
and exhibiting but in bolder relief the strength of our political system, and the 
wisdom and energy of public opinion. And it is good, while we are here to- 
gether in these old regions of rank and distinction, to recal one of the most 
beautiful traits in our whole system of Government, of which I am myself a prac- 
tical illustration ; and that is the perfect equality which is the very foundation of 
our Constitution — an equality which opens ail the avenues of advancement to 
the whole community, and leaves success or failure to the exertions of each. 
That this principle should be dear to me, you will at once believe, when I tell 
you that it is between forty and fifty years since I crossed the mountains on foot, 
without patronage and without powerful family connexion, a young adventurer 
in that region, then so wild and solitary, now teeming with life and liberty ; and 
whatever services I have been able to "render, and with whatever rewards, these 
have been greatly overpaid ; I owe all to this life-giving principle — to this great 
test and preservation of republican institutions. Still, my friend*, there is obviously 
one want in our country ; one lesson to be learned, which would do more to 
unite and to render us happy than any measure, proposed by any party, as a 
remedy for evils felt or anticipated ; and that is, a just appreciation of our own 
condition — a deep-felt realization of the great blessings we enjoy — a conviction 
that the sun never shone upon a land more favored by Providence, and that all 
those subjects of discussion which divide us, important as they are, never can 
justify the fierce animositiy to which they often give birth, but that they sink 
into insignificance when placed in the balance against all that God has done 
for us, to make us a happy people. This lesson is well learned abroad, by com- 
paring with what we have left with what we see around us, and I trust we shall 
carry it back with us as a precious acquisition, influencing our conduct and opin- 
ons for life. 

Permit me to conclude by offering you a sentiment in which I am sure you 
will all cordially join. 

" Our native country — still nearer, the further we are separated from it" 
General Cass reached this country, on his return home, on the 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1342. He was warmly greeted by his countrymen ; a large number of 
the citizens of New York waited on him" at the Governor's room, which was po- 
litely tendered him for the occasion. On entering the apartment he wasreceiv- 
ed with three hearty cheers. An invitation to meet his fellow citizens of Boston, 
at Fenuil Hall, was tendered, but courteously declined as he had mede arrange- 
ments precluding delay. He reached his home, Detroit, Michigan, on the 15th 



38 

of February, 1843, and was most cordially welcomed by the State and munici- 
pal authorities. 

His truly republican and patriotic conduct during his official career at the 
Court of > s t. Cloud, drew forth the following complimentary letter from the vene- 
rable ''Sage of the Hermitage," whose correct opinioils of men and measures, 
none but the most prejudiced minds will, at this day, deny. 

Hermitage, July, 1343. 

Dear Sir : 1 have the pleasure to acknowledge your very friendly letter of 
the 25th of May last. It reached me in due course of mail ; but such were my 
debility and afflictions, that I have been pievented from replying to it until now ; 
and even now it is with great difficulty that I write. In return for your kind 
expression with regard to myself, I have to remark that I shall ever recollect, 
my dear General, with great satisfaction, the relations both private and official, 
which subsisted between us during the greater part of my Administration. Hav- 
ing full confidence in your abilities and republican principles, I invited you to 
my cabinet ; and I can never forget with what discretion and talents you met 
those great and delicate questions which were brought before you, whilst you 
presided over the Department of War, which entitled you to my thanks, and will 
be ever recollected with the most lively feelings of friendship by me. 

But what has endeared you to every true American, was the noble stand which 
you took, as our Minister at Paris, against the Quintuple Treaty, and which by 
your talents, energy, and fearless responsibility, defeated its ratification by France. 
A treaty intended by Great Britain to change our international laws, make her 
mistress of the seas, and to destroy the national independence, not only of our 
country, but of all Europe, and enable her to become the tyrant on every ocean. 
Had Great Britain obtained the sanction of France to this treaty (with the late 
disgraceful treaty of Washington, so disreputable to our national character, and 
injurious to our national safety) then, indeed, we might have hung our harps 
upon the willows and resigned our national independence to Great Britain. But, 
I repeat, to your talents, energy, and fearless responsibility, we are indebted for 
the shield thrown over us, from the impending danger which the ratification of 
the Quintuple Treaty, by France, would have brought upon us. For this act the 
thanks of every true American, and the applause of every true republican are 
yours ; and for this noble act, I tender you my thanks. 

I admire the course of Dr. Linn, in the Senate, in urging his Oregon Bill ; 
and I hope his energy will carry it into a law at the next session of Congress. 
This wiil speak to England a language which she will understand. That we 
vill not. submit lobe negotiated out of our territorial rights thereafter. 
Receive assurances of my friendship and esteem, 

ANDREW JACKSON." 



CHAPTER VII. 

General Cass has always been of the Democratic school ; always of unblem- 
ished integrity ; always true to his duty, whatever its nature or magnitude, or 
wherever its locality, whether on the W isconsin,in his birch canoe, on the toil- 
some business of securing, through treaties with the Indians, the territorial in- 
terests of his country, or using the pen in Paris for her benefit, on questions of 
the greatest international scope, while all Europe looked on ; firm and fearless 
at all times, yet uniting qualities alike necessary to high statesmanship, calm, 
prudent, and conciliatory — these are some of the attributes and circumstances 
attaching to his career. 



39 

In the glimmer of 1841, a Dumber of his friends in Philadelphia, addressed 
••him a letter, asking him it he would consent to have his name used a-= a candi- 
date for the Presidency. His reply is a paper sound in doctrine and elevated 
in tone. It is truly modest ; thus attesting, and not. less by the beauty of its 
•composition, an 1 justness of its reflections, the qualities of a superior mind. 
lie avows in it his conviction of the truth of the Democratic creed ; yet, it is so 
liberal, so exempt from all narrowness, and mere partisan prejudice, that it is 
unspeakably refreshing to meet with such sentiments from such a source, when 
we have been latterly, so much used to both narrowness and violence from men 
in high places, or those who are seeking them. It recalls the principles and 
the tone, in which they were ever inculcated by Jefferson and Madison. He 
forcibly quotes Mr. Jefferson, as an illustrious instance, to show that firmness 
does not mean violence ; for that, although coming into the administration, in 
the most excited state of feeling that our country has, perhaps ever experienced 
hclrjt it with the. Republican par'!/ greatly augmented, and the principles it 
hud contended for, firmly established. 

A convention of the friends of Genera 1 Cass assembled at Harrisburg, Pa. on 
the 2 1st of November, 1812, and passed resolutions nominating him as a can- 
didate for the. Presidency, in reference to this nomination, the following corres- 
pondence took place between General Cass and the Hon. Mahlon Diukerson, 
New Jersey, (Secretary of the Navy under General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren.) 

New York, December 10, 1842. 

My deas Sir : You must have observed since your arrival at Boston, that you 
have been recommended in many of the public papers in different parts ofUuited 
Stales, as a candidate for the chief Executive office of the Republic, and particu- 
larly that you were nominated to that office at a large Democratic meeting at 
Ilanisburg, on the 21st ultimo. 

The manner in which your nomination is mentioned by some of the W higpapers, 
is su h as to excite a suspicion among those who do not know you, that you favor 
Whig principles, and some have said that your views on a National Bank are 
identical with those of the Whigs. 

I know that there is no ground for such suspicions, and that you are entirely 
willing that your views upon those subjects should be known to all parties. 
From the long and friendly relations which have existed between us, before as 
well as during the time we were fellow-members of the cabinet of President 
Jackson, and ever since, I take the liberty of asking from you such explanation 
of your views upon these subjects, as shall be entirely satisfactory to your poli- 
tical friends. 

With the highest respect and esteem, 

• I am your friend and humble servant, 

MAHLON DICKERSON. 

To General Lewis Cass. 

New York, December 10, 1842. 

My dear Sir: I have received your letter of this day, and have no difficulty 
in giving you a prompt and unequivocal answer to the questions you present to 
me. 

i am a member of the Democratic party, and have been so from my youth. I 
was first called into public life by Mr. Jefferson, thirty. six years ago, and am a 
firm believer in the principles laid down by him. From the faith as taught and 
received in his day, I have never swerved a single instant. 

So much for my general sentiments. 

With respect to a National Bank, I think the feelings and experience of the 
country have decided against it, and that no such institution should be chartered 
by the Geueral Government. 



40 

I will add that my residence in France and a careful observation of the state 
of the nation, have satisfied me that, while a due degree of credit is highly useful 
in the business concerns of a country, a sound specie basis is essential to its per- 
manent prosperity. 

With great regard, I am, dear sir, truly yours, 

LEWIS CASS. 
To Hon. Mahlon Dickerson. 

Upon the Mh of January, 1843, the Democratic State Convention of Indiana, 
assembled at Indianapolis, and addressed interrogatories to the different indi- 
viduals of the. party who had been named for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, 
requesting their views upon vairous political questions. General Cass forwarded 
the following reply : 

Colemrus, (Ohio,) February 8, 1943. 
Gentlemen : Your letter, enclosing the resolutions of the Democratic Con- 
vention of the State of Indiana, was addressed to me at Washington, but did not 
reach that city till after I had left there. It was then forwarded to me at this 
place, and in consequence of having stopped upon the route, considerable delay 
has occurred in its receipt. 1 make this explanation to account for that delay. 

I shall now proceed to answer the questions proposed by the convention, 
briefly, but frankly; satisfied it will be more agreeable to yourselves, and your 
colleagues of the convention, that I should be explicit, than that I should be led 
into tedious dissertations. 

With respect to a National Bank, I have to remark, that I have always 
entertained doubts of the power of Congress to charter such an institution. 
The indirect process by which this power is deduced from a general provision 
of that instrument, has never been satisfactory to me. But there is the less 
necessity for entering more in detail into the constitutional question, as it seems 
the public voice has pronounced itself, and justly, against the incorporation ot 
any National Bank by Congress. No such institution should, in my opinion, 
be established. 

In answer to the second question, which relates to the distritetion of toe 
proceeds of the eerlic lands among the several States, I reply that I think 
no such distribution should be made. I will state, in a tew wore!.-, the ground 
of this opinion. The necessary revenue for the support of the Government of 
the United States, must come from the people, and it must be supplied by direct 
or indirect taxation, or by the sale of public property. The general sentiment 
is opposed to direct taxation by the Genera] Government in lime of peace ; and, 
of course, there are left but the other two sources of supply to meet its expenses. 
Their proceeds must constitute the revenue of the country ; and if one of them 
is abstracted or diminished, an additional burden is thrown upon the other. 
Whatever sum the necessary expenses of the Government may require, it the 
proceeds of the public lands make no part of it, the whole must be raised by 
taxation. It they make part of it, then the amount of taxation is diminished by 
the. sum supplied by these proceeds. It follows, that any proposition to divert 
the proceeds of these lands from the support of the Government, is in fact but a 
proposition to lay taxes upon the people. If. a permanent annual revenue oi 
eighteen million* of dollars is necessary for an economical administration of the 
Government, and if two millions of these are produced by the sales of the pub- 
lic lands, let the seuree of this supply be diverted to some other object, and 
these two millions inu.-t be provided \>y the imposition of taxes. All this is too 
clear to need further illustration. A proposition then to distribute the proceeds 
ot the public lands among the several Slates, is. in effect, but a proposition to 
increase the taxation of the people of the United States, through the medium 
of the General Government, in order that the amount, thus increased, may be 



41 

paid into the treasuries of the respective States. To me it appears perfectly 
clear that whatever may be the annual sum produced by the sale of lands, that 
sum is a part of the revenue of the country, and that it is just as competent for 
Congress to take any other two millions, supposing that to be the amount, from 
the public treasury, and divide them among the States, as to select for that pur 
pose the dollars actually produced by the land sales. It seems to me that such 
a course of action would be injurious in practice, dangerous in principle, and 
without warrant in the Constitution of the United States. The theory of our 
political institutions is familiar to us all. The government of the confederation, 
and the governments of all the confederated States, have their respective rights 
and duties clearly defined, and each, within its proper sphere, is independent of 
the others ; fcach raises and expends its revenue, and performs all the necessary 
functions of a sovereign State. What right has one to interfere with another, 
unless in cases marked out by the Constitution itself? If the General Govern- 
ment can provide a revenue for the respective States, and does provide one, it 
is clear that one great distinctive feature of our political system will disappear, 
and that the relations between the confederation, as such, and the individual 
States composing it, will be wholly changed. Human sagacity cannot foretell 
what would be the entire result of this sta'e of things, but it is easy to predict 
that this new application of the money power would give to the Government of 
the United States a strength never contemplated by the American people, and 
irreconci'eable with our constitutional organization ; and that it would lead to a 
habit of dependence on the part of the States, by which their efficiency to resist 
any encroachment of the General Government would be paralysed. Without 
pushing these considerations further, I conclude this branch of the subject by 
repeating, that, in n\y opinion, no distribution of the proceeds of the public lands 
should be made. 

The subject of a protective tariff has been so long and ably discussed, 
that it would be useless for me to do more than to give you the result of my 
views. I think, then, that the revenue of the Government ought to be brought 
down to the lowest point compatible with the performance of its constitutional 
functions ; and that in the imposition of duties, necessary, with the proceeds of 
the public lands, to provide this revenue, incidental protection should be afforded 
to such branches of American industry as may require it. This appears to me 
not only constitutional, but called for by the great interests of the country ; and 
if a protective tariff, upon this principle, were wisely and moderately established, 
and then left to its own operation, so that the community could calculate upon 
its reasonable duration, and thus avoid ruinous fluctuations, we might look for as 
general acquiescence in the arrangement as we can ever expect in questions of 
this complicated kind, when local feelings have been enlisted, which a prudent 
legislature must consult more or less, and endeavor to reconcile. 

A proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States, is one which 
I should always receive with great caution. There is already in our country 
too great a disposition to seek, in changes of the laws and constitutions, reme- 
dies for evils to which all societies are more or less liable, instead of leaving 
them to find their own cure in the operation of the ordinary causes which act 
upon communities. It is often better to suffer a partial inconvenience, than 
rashly to alter the fundamental principles of a political system. Stability is 
better than change, when change is not decidedly called for. I am not aware 
that the exercise of th<* veto power has, for many years, produced any injury to 
the public service. On the contrary, I think in those cases where it has recent- 
ly been interposed, it has been properly applied, and that its action has been ap- 
proved by a great majority of the people. I see, therefore, no practical evil 
which demands, in this respect, a change in the Constitution of the United States, 



42 

Your last questions regard the obligations which the nomination of a National 
Democratic Convention should impose upon those persons whose names have 
been brought forward in connexion with the Presidency of the United Slates. 

In the summer of 1841, in answer to an application from a Committee up- 
pointed by a Democratic meeting in the city of Philadelphia, I stated my deter- 
mination not to suffer my name to be used in this matter, unless nominated by a 
National Democratic Convention. To that declaration I yet adhere ; and I 
add, in the terms of your question, that I shall give my support and influence to 
the nominee of that convention. I beg leave, however, to remark, as the sub- 
ject has excited discussion in respectable quarters, that I am firmly impressed 
with the belief that no portion of the Democratic party will weaken its strength, 
or hazard the favorable result we have a right to expect, by precipitating the 
period of the meeting of the convention. The great object is a union of views, 
to prevent the efforts of the party from being rendered useless by divisions ; and 
this union is best attained by that process which shall best ascertain the public 
will, tin; only legitimate source of authority. To effect this, the Representatives 
at the convention should come from the people ; and should assemble to exercise 
their functions in as short an interval before the Presidential election as may be 
compatible with the preparatory arrangement and investigations which such a 
great object requires. The people should have all the time possible to e?<press 
their latest will in the nomination of the candidate to be submitted for their sup- 
port. Nothing can be gained, and much may be lost by undue haste. It may 
wear the appearance of distrust of the people, or of an unwillingness to leave 
their proper cause in their own hands. There, however, it should be 1 e fl till the 
last reasonable moment, and then the convention will be the fair exponents of 
the will of their constituents, at the time the delegated trust is to be exercised. 
I do not suffer myself to doubt, but that these views will meet the approbation 
of the great Democratic party. 

With great respect, gentlemen, 

I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

To Ethan A. Brown, John Law, Nathaniel West, John Pettit, Jesse 
D. Bright, and A. C. Pepper, Esqrs. 

In February, 1843, a number of General Cass' political friends in Michigan, 
addressed him desiring his sentiments, also, respecting a National Bank, a tariff, 
a distribution of the proceeds of the public lands, and a national convention ; to 
which the General returned the following answer : 

Detroit, February 23, 1843. 

Ge>tlemen : I had the h< nor to receive your letter of yesterday, req testing 
me to communicate my opinion upon certain questions you have stated. 1 have 
no reserve upon these, nor upon any other subjects involving the principles or 
policy of the General Government, and I do not hesitate to give you my senti- 
ments, freely and frankly. 

I shall limit my answer, however, to a categorical expression of my views, 
and shall not enter into the considerations which have led to them. A sense of 
propriety imposes this course upon me. I received, some time since, from a com- 
mittee of the Democratic Convention of the Slate of Indiana, a letter asking my 
opinion upon the topics which are embraced in your communication. To that 
letter I replied, at length, giving my opinion, together with the reasons in sup- 
port of it. That letter being at the disposition of the convention, I do not think 
I ought to make it public. 

For the present, therefore, I confine myself to a brief declaration of my sen- 
timents upon the points of inquiry you have proposed. 



43 

1. I do not think that a National Bank should be incorporated in any form or 
under any pretence by the General Government. First, because I have never 
seen in the Constitution of the United States a sufficient grant of power for such 
a purpose ; and second, because pu -lie opinion has pronounced itself, and I think 
justly, against any such institution. An attempt to incorporate a National Bank 
ought to be met by the Presidential veto, should that measure be necessary to 
defeat if. 

2 I think it is the duty of the General Government to reduce its expenses to 
the lowest amount, consistently with a faithful discharge of its constitutional du- 
ties. In the preparation of a judicious tariff to raise this amount, it is also its 
duty to afford incidental protection to those branches of American industry-which 
require it. An economical expenditure, a tariff producing enough, with the sales 
of the public land, to meet this expenditure, and so divided among the various 
articles of importation as to protect bur own manufacturers by reasonable duties ; 
and within these limits, a practical application of the just principles of free trade 
to our foreign comrnerc.*, seem to me, to comprehend the outline of the duties of 
the Government of the United States upon these difficult topics. If to this, be 
a r k!ed a sincere desire to reconcile, as far as may be, locally conflicting views 
by mutual concessions of opinion, and to adopt a system which shall have stability 
enough to enable the great interests of the country to accommodate themselves to 
it, I think the object which has been so long sought will be as nearly attained as 
the circumstances of the country permit. 

3. The public land should, in my opinion be appropriated to the support of 
the Government of the United States, and not distributed among the individual 
States. 

4. I think it is the duly of every member of the Democratic party, whom the 
partiality of his friends may designate as a proper person to fill the office of 
President of the United States, to be bound by the decision of the general con- 
vention of the party: I have said this in other circumstances, and I here repeat 
it. Should the choice of the convention fall upon me, which I have no right to 
expect, when I look at the able men whose names are before the public, I shall 
sit still and submit. Should it fall upon another, I shall support him zealously 
and sincerely. 

I am gentlemen, with great regard, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

During the winter of 1843-4, large and enthusiastic meetings were held in 
various parts of the country, recommending General Cass as a suitable candi- 
date to be nominated by the Democratic National Convention for the Presidency. 
Having upon several occasions expressed his views and opinions in relation to 
the various political questions of the day ; a letter was addressed him by the 
Hon. Edward A. Ilannegan, of Indiana, for the purpose of ascertaining his 
views upon the annexation ok Texas ; to which the General forwarded the 
following reply : 

Detroit, May 10, 1844. 

Dear Sir : In answer to your inquiry, whether I am favorable to the imme- 
diate annexation of Texas to the United States, I reply that I am, as you de- 
mand my opinion only of this measure, and briefly the reasons which influence 
me, I shall confine myself to these points. 

I shall not dwell upon the policy of uniting coterminous countries, situated 
like ours and Texas, with no marked geographical feature to divide them, and 
with navigable streams penetrating the territofies of both ; nor upon the com- 
mon origin of the people who inhabit them ; upon their common language, man- 
ners, leTigion, institutions, and, in fact, their identity as a branch of the human 
family. Nor shall I urge the material interests involved in the measure, by the 



44 

free intercourse it would establish between the various sections of a vast country, 
mutually dependent upon, and supplying one another. These considerations are 
so obvious, that tliey need no elucidation from me. 

But in a military point of view, annexation strikes me as still more important, 
and my mind has been the more forcibly impressed with this idea, from reading the 
able letter of General Jackson upon this subject, which has just come under my 
observation. With the intuitive sagacity which makes part of the character of 
that great man and pure patriot, he has foreseen the use which a European enemy 
might make cf Texas in the event of a war with the United States. A lodgment 
in that country would lay open our whole south-western border to his devastations. 
We could establish no fortress, nor occupy any favorable position ; for the immense 
frontier may, in a vast many places, be crossed as readily as a man passes from 
one part of his farm to another. The advantages an active enemy would enjoy un- 
der such circumstances it requires no sagacity to foretell. 

These considerations recal to my memory an article which made its appear- 
ance just before f left Europe, in a leading Tory periodical in England, which 
is understood to speak the sentiments of a powerful party. This is Frazer's 
Magazine ; and a more nefarious article never issued from a profligate press. 
It ought to be stereotyped and circulated from one end of our country to the other, 
to show the designs which are in agitation against us, and to teach us that our 
safety, in that mighty contest which is coming upon us, is in a knowledge of our 
danger, and in a determination, by union, and by a wise forecast, to meet it and 
defeat it. The spirit of this article is sufficiently indicated by its title, which 
was, "a war with the United States a blessing to mankind." I cannot refer to 
it at this moment, but must speak of it from recollection. I have often been 
surprised it has not attrae'ed more attention in our country. Its object was to 
provoke a war with the United States, and lay down the plan of a campaign, 
which would sooner bring it to a fortunate conclusion with England. The basis 
of this plan was the organization of the necessary black force in the West In- 
dia Islands, and its debarkation upon our Southern coast. The consequences 
which our enemies fondly hoped tor, in such a case, but with an entire ignor- 
ance of the true state of the country, were foretold with a rare union of philan- 
thropy and hatred. I wish I had the number at hand, to cull some choice pas- 
sages for vour reflection. The result was to be the destruction of the Southern 
States, the ruin or depression of the others, and the dissolution of this great and 
glorious confederacy, on which the last hopes of freedom, through the world, 
now rests. 

What more favorable position could be taken for the occupation of English 
black troops, and for letting them loose upon our Southern States, than is af- 
forded by Texas ? Incapable of resisting, in the event of a war between us and 
England, she would he taken possession of by the latter, under one or another of 
those pretences, which every page of her history furnishes, and the territory 
would become the depot, whence she would carry on her operations against us, 
and attempt to add a servile war to the other calamities which hostilities bring 
with them. He who doubts whether this would be done, has yet to learn anoth- 
er trait in the annals of national antipathy. It would be done, and be called 
philanthropy. 

Every day satisfies rue more and more, that a majority of the American peo- 
ple are in favor of annexation. Were they not, the measure ought not to be 
effected. But as they are, the sooner it is effected the better. 1 do not touch 
the details of the negotiation. Tliat must be left to the responsibility of the 
Government; as. also, must the bearing of the question upon, and its reception 
by other countries. These are points, | (Jo not here enter into. 
I am, dear sir, with much regard, truly, vours, 

LEWIS CASS- 



45 

Prior to the assemblage of the Democralic National Convention, at Baltimore, 
on the 27th of May, H44, the destinies of the Democratic party hung trembling 
in the balance. The influence of sectional or other interests, and internal quar- 
rels, had distracted the harmony of their counsels, and threatened inevitable 
defeat. 

Previous to the introduction of the Texas question, the general concurrence 
of a large majority of the Democratic party on Mr. Van Buren, was settled and 
recognized. His letter, in opposition to the " annexation ot Texas," and the de- 
monstrations of public sentiment in favor of that measure, presented the proprie- 
ty of his nomination in an aspect materially modified. His friends, on a broad 
survey of the whole ground, came to the conclusion that the influence of this 
new question, was really and truly such as to destroy or endanger the hope of 
his election — that any other candidate, worthily fulfiling the condition of being 
a true and trusty Democrat, could bring more favorable auspices into the contest 
with the common foe. 

The convention met, and many of Mr. Van Buren's best friends, not loving 
Caesar less, but Rome more, were among the first to cast a reluctant and sorrow- 
ful vote against his name. The friends of General Cass, with magnanimous 
ardor, pressed his nomination, and the flattering vote he received, affords evi- 
dence of the estimation in which he was held by the Democracy of the country. 
On the first ballot, he received 83 votes ; on the second, 94 ; on '.he third, 92 ; 
■on the fourth, 105; on the fifth, 107; on the sixth, 116 ; on the seventh, 123 ; 
on the eighth, 114 ; on the ninth ballot, Mr. Polk was nominated. 

The nomination of Mr. Polk infused new vigor among the masses attached 
to the Democratic party. It received the most cordial support from the numer- 
ous friends of General Cass, throughout all portions of the Union. 

In reply to an invitation to attend the Democratic meeting held at Indepen- 
dence square, Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 1844, General Cass sent the 
following : 

Detroit, June 28, 1844. 

Gentlemkx : — I shall be prevented by other engagements from accepting 
your invitation to attend the celebration by the Democratic citizens of the City 
and county of Philadelphia, of the coming anniversary of our national Indepen- 
dence. I thank you for the kind consideration which your invitation evinces, 
and for the compliment you confer upon me, by classing me with the champions 
of Democracy. I have done but little, and had it in power to do but little for 
those great principles which are so dear to our party. But I may congratulate 
you upon the prospect of their restoration to the councils of our country. Zeal 
and unanimity have taken the place of temporary division, and the enthusiasm 
which every where prevails, is the harbinger and the pledge of success. While, 
upon the corning national festival, we recall the achievments of our fathers, and 
the principles they established, let us labor and resolve to maintain our institu- 
tions unchanged, and to transmit them, as we received them, in their primi- 
tive integrity. 

I am, 'mntlemen, with great regard, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

To War. Boksall, and others, Committee. 

The contest of 1844, will ever form an important era in the political history 
of our country. It was the most important election that had taken place in this 
country since that of Jefferson, in 1800. The country was not committedTo the 
government of the Whig party, and the ascendency of all those false and fatal 
heresies of doctrine, which that party, at that time, espoused. But slight and 
frail was the narrow bridge by which the yawning gulf of our political rum, 
was cleared. Had the Whig party succeeded in that contest, it would have 



46 

stamped them, their ideas, and their doctrines, upon the future history of our 
government, with a fatal depth and extent of mischief never, perhaps, to be again 
effaced, but (he calamity of such consequences has not fallen upon us, our chil- 
dren, and our country. 

General Cass was among the foremast in averting the disaster. In compliance 
with the popular demand, he took the tour of the States of Ohio, Indiana, and 
Michigan. He everwhere met the most enthusiastic reception from the people. 
He was hailed as the Father of the West, But a great change had been 
effected since first he came among them. The lofty forests which lie then tra- 
versed were now fruitful fields ; the lonely cabins which he protected against 
the firebrand of the savage, were transformed into populous cities ; the Indian 
war-path was converted into the railroad ; the harbors upon the lakes and rivers 
which he first surveyed, were now the seats of commerce and of wealth ; and 
the scattered population which he governed were now a great people. The 
crowds which attended his progress through these States, seemed rather the tri- 
umphal procession of a conqueror than the peaceful attendance oi" a private 
citizen. 

His arrival at the Nashville Democratic Convention, in August was, announced 
by the firing of cannon, and he was received with every demonstration of popular 
enthusiasm. Of his speech there, a leading paper says : 

"We did not attempt a sketch of the eloquent and powerful speech that was made 
by General Cass, for we felt that nothing short of its publication entire, word for 
word, and sentence for sentence, as he uttered it to admiring thousands, would do 
him a full measure of justice. It was the master effort of a great statesman, and 
the popular thunder of applause with which it was received by the fifty acres of 
freemen in attendance rung through the valleys and reverberated from hill to 
hill, exceeding any thing that we had ever heard before." 

General Cass visited the Hermitage, and spent some, time with General Jack-^ 
son. When they parted, the scene was most impressive and affecting. An eye- 
witness remarks : " The tears of the veterans were mingled together as they 
bade each other a last farewell." 

The following incidents at the public meeting at Norwalk, Ohio, on the 17th 
of September, are selected from the Democratic newspaper published at that 
place : 

"While a number of revolutionary soldiers were being introduced to General 
Cass, one of our citizens approached him, and asked If he remembered him. 
Upon replying that he did not, he gave the following account of their first meet- 
ing : "In the spring of 1813, Fort Meigs was beseiged by the British and In- 
dians, and the militia of Ohio were called out to march to the re'ief of the Fort. 
General Cass was appointed to the command. Six thousand assembled at Up- 
per Sandusky, of whom two thousand were selected to proceed on to the fort. 
The marshes and woods were filled with water, making the roads almost im- 
passable. The commanding general had not yet arrived but was daily expected. 
On the second day of the march, a youag soldier, from exposure to the weather, 
was taken nick. Unable to march in the ranks, he followed along in the rear. 
When at a distance behind, attempting with difficulty to keep pace with his com- 
rades, two offices rode along, one a stranger, and the other the colonel of his 
regiment. On passing him, the colonel remarked -General, that poor fellow there 
is sick, he is a good fellow though, for he refuses to go back ; but I fear that the 
Indians will sculp him, or the crows pick -> him before we get to Fort Meijjs.* 
The officer hailed, and dismounted from his horse. W hen the young soldier 
came up, he addressed him : j My brave boy, yen are sick and tired. I am well 
and strong; mount my horse p!id ride.' The soldier hesitated. ' Do not wait,' 
said the off! :i r, and Idling him on his horse, wit!; directions to ride a: uight to 



47 

the general's tent, he proceeded on foot to join the army. At night, the youn» 
soldier rode to the tent, where lie was met by the general with a cheerful wel- 
come, which he repaid with tears of gratitude. That officer was General Cass, 
and the young soldier was the person addressing him, our worthy fellow-citizen, 
John Laylin. The general, remembering the circumstance, immediately recog- 
ed him. Mr. Laylin remarked, 'General, that deed was not done for the world 
to look upon, it was done in the woods with but three to witness it.' " 

"Another : Our old friend, Major Parks, on being introduced to General 
Cass, exclaimed, with much animation, ' General, I thank God, that I am able 
to see you ! I fought by the side of your father, Jonathan Cass, and your uncle, 
Daniel Cass, at the battle of Bunker's Hill. Your father was sergeant of the com- 
pany, and I was a corporal. We were brothers together during the war. God 
bless you, general for his sake.' The general was deeply affected in meeting 
the friend and companion of his father; while the old veteran, with eyes spark- 
ling, recounted (he scenes through which they passed together in the days of 
danger and strife — the times that ' tried men's souls.' " 

Another anecdote of General Cass, while on his tour through Ohio, was re- 
lated, with much spirit, by the late gallant and lamented General Hamer. The 
carriage containing General Cass was one day stopped by a man, who, addressing 
the General, said : " 'I can't let you pass without speaking to you. You don't know 
me, general.' General Cass replied that he did not. ' Weil, sir,' said he, 'I 
was the first man in your regiment to jump out of the boat on the Canadian 
shore,' ' No, you were not,' said General Cass, ' I was the first man myself on 
shore.' ' True,' said the other, ' I jumped out first into the river, to get ahead 
of you, but you held me back, and got ahead of me.'" 

The result of the contest in 1844 is well known. The vote of every Western 
State, save one, and that by a meagre majority, was given for Mr. Polk. To 
the efforts of General Cass, and his great personal popularity, exerted in favor 
of Mr. Polk, much of this is to be attributed. The gratification which success 
afforded him, was the richest compensation he desired for the services rendered., 



CHAPTER VTII. 

General Cass was elected United States Senator by the Legislature of Mich- 
igan on the 4th of February, 1845, and took his seat on the 4th of March. It 
was the first time he had ever been elected to either House of Congress. In 
the formation of the committees of the Senate, General Cass was unanimously 
tendered the post of Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which, 
however, he declined. 

In December, 1845, General Cass introduced resolutions in the Senate rela- 
tive to the national defences, with particular reference to the condition of our 
affairs with Great Britain, growing out of the Oregon question. These resolu- 
tions he supported in a speech, of which the following is an extract, referring to 
the course which should be pursued in maintaining our rights to the territory in 
question. 

" As to receding, it is neither to be discussed nor thought of. I refer to it but 
to denounce it — a denunciation which will find a response in every American 
bosom. Nothing is ever gained by national pusillanimity. And the country 
which seeks to purchase temporary .security by yielding to unjust pretension ;, 
buys present ease at the expense of permanent honor and safety. It sows the 
wind to reap the whirlwind. I have said elsewhere, what I will repeat here, 
that it is better to fight for the first inch of national territory than i'ar ;ii^ last. 
[I is better to defend the door siil than the hearth stone — the porch than the al- 



4S 

tar. National character is a richer treasure than gold or silver, and exercises 
a moral influence in the hour of danger, which, if not power itself, is its surest 
ally. Thus far, ours is untarnished ; and let us all join, however separated by 
party or by space, so to preserve it." 

During this session, the President recommended Congress to annual and ab- 
rogate the agreement for joint occupancy of Oregon, between Great Britain and 
the United States, by giving the twelve months' notice required by the Conven- 
tion of 1827. Accordingly, a bill to that effect was introduced into Congress, 
and received the cordial support of General Cass. We claimed our title to Ore- 
gon under the three following branches: 

First. In our own right, under the discovery of the Columbia river by Cap- 
tain Gray, in 1792, and the exploration of the river by Lewis and Clark, in 
1805 and 180G. 

Second. In right of France, as part of the Louisiana territory, under the 
treaty of 1803. 

Third. In right of Spain, as the first to discover the bay, into which the Co- 
lumbia flows, and the principal capes and straits, from cape Mendocino to latitude 
55 degrees north, under the Hoiida treaty of 1819. 

'1 he speech of Geneial Ciss above referred to, has been circulated and read 
very generally, but the following extract expresses 80 fully the sentiment of every 
patriotic American, that it is worthy of record : 

" It pains me, sir, to hear allusions to the destruction of this Government, 
and to the dissolution of this Confederacy. Ifpains me, not because they in- 
spire me with any fear, but because we ought to have one unpronounceable 
word, as the Jews had of old, and that word is Dissolution. We should reject 
the feeling from our hearts, and its name from our tongues. This cry of " Wo, 
wo, to Jerusalem" grates harshly upon my ears. Our Jerusalem is neither be- 
leaguered nor in danger. It is yet the city upon a hill, glorious in what it is ; 
still more glorious, by the blessing of God, in what it is to be — a landmark, in- 
viting the nations of the world, struggling upon the stormy ocean of political op- 
pression, to follow us to a haven of safety and of rational liberty. No English 
Titus will enter our temple of freedom through a breach in the battlements, to 
bear thence the ark of our Constitution and the book of our law, to take their 
stations in a triumphal procession in the streets of a modern Rome, as trophies 
of conquest and proofs of submission. 

" Many a ravan has croaked in my day, but the augury has failed, and the. Re- 
public has marched onward. Many a crisis has presented itself to the imagina- 
tion of our political Cassandras, but we have still increased in political pros- 
perity as we have increased in years, and that, too, with an accelerated progress 
unknown to the history of the world. We have a class of men whose eyes are 
always upon the future, overlooking the blessings around us, and forever appre- 
hensive of some great political evil, which is to arrest our course somewhere or 
other on this side of the millenium. To them we are the image of gold, and 
stiver, and brass, and clay, contrariety in unity, which the first rude blow of 
misfortune is to strike from its pedestal. 

'• For my own part, I consider this the strongest Government on the face of 
the earth for good, and the weakest, for evil. Strong, because supported by 
the public opinion of a people inferior to none of the communities ol the earth, 
in all that constitutes moral worth and useful knowledge, and \vb© have breathed 
into their political system the breath of life ; and who would destroy it, as they 
created it. if it were unworthy of them, or-failed to fulfill their just expectations. 

" And weak, for evil, from this verve ■m-i I >i tinn, which would make its follies 
and its faults the signal of its overthrow. It is the on! Government in existence 
which no revolution can subvert. It may be changed, but it provides for its own 



49 

change, when the public will requires. Plots and insurrections, andthe various 
struggles by which an oppressed population manifests its sufferings, and seeks 
the recovery of its rights, have no place here. We have nothing to fear but 

ourselves." 

General Cass has always believed our title to the whole of Oregon to be 
clear and unquestionable. Upon this subject he was known to be decided, well 
informed, and inflexible. Having been trained in the school which taught him, 
in our intercourse with foreign nations, to ask for nothing but what is right, and 
to submit to nothing that is wrong, he had the moral courage to stand up for the 
right, whatever might be the consequences. The part taken by General Cass 
in the exciting controversy on this question, and his opposition to the treaty, are 
well known to the country. His speech on the ratification o: the "Oregon 
Treaty," delivered in the Senate in secret session, in June, 1310, conclusively 
established our title to the whole of Oregon. He said : 

"In the progress of our controversy with England, Mr. President, for the 
possession of Oregon, wo have at length reached the last step of our march. 
For aim -t half a century that country has fumed a subject of discussion be- 
tween the two nations, and recently it has threatened to become a subject of 
hostilities. 

"A treaty is now presented to us, which, if ratified, will terminate this cause 
of difference by the abandonment of a large potion of our claim, and what is 
still worse, by the abandonment of more than was ever offered, or even contem- 
plated, in any one of the various phases of this diplomatic contest. I say, if 
ratified ; but it seems scarcely necessary to speak conditionally upon this matter. 
As to the English Government, it can hardly refuse its formal assent to an in- 
strument prepaivd by itself. It comes to us as it came from England, and, as 
has been said, without ' the crossing of a t or the dotting of an i, untouched 
and unchanged.' And as to the issue of our present discussion, the course it 
has taken, and the vote we have already given, announce but too clearly that 
■we shall return it as we received it, making its terms our own." 

The course pursued by General Cass during the progress of the Oregon con- 
troversy — his unwavering firmness and unyielding consitency upon the whole 
matter — merits the decided approbation of the American people. The Demo- 
cratic .National Convention, which assembled at Baltimore in Mav, 1344, de- 
clared " that our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and un- 
questionable : that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any 
other power." The same doctrine was announced by President Polk in his 
'• Inaugural Address," and in his iirst annual message. To these principles 
General C.vso strictly adhered during the pendency of '.he matter before the Se- 
nate. He believed that our titles were valid and conclusive against Great Bri- 
tain, and formed iu accordance with those laws, customs, usages, and principles 
considered obligatory among civilized nations, a most perfect and in disputable 
title to the jurisdiction of that country — a title so clear and unquestionable as to 
preclude the possibility that it could be successfully controverted by any nation 
upon earth, on any principle of law, justice, and equity. 

Great Britain first doubted our title, and set up some pretensions of her own 
right, in 1818, immediately after the restoration of the settlement to our own 
Government, under the first article of the treaty of Ghent. 

Her plenipotentiaries iirst claimed title by virtue of the discoveries of Sir 
Francis Brake, in 1579. To which we answer, that Drake was a jrira/c, sail- 
ing without authority, and committing depredations en the Spanish settlements; 
that Oxenham, a subordinate officer, who had ventured to imitate his master, was 
taken by the Spaniards and hanged ; that his punishment was neither unexpect- 
ed or censured, in England, as severe ; and that Spanish navigators had, in 
4 



50 

1543, thirty-six years before, examined all the coast which was visited by Drake. 
They next contended that they had a title, by virtue of Captain Cooke's discove- 
ries, in 1778, and Lieutenant Meares' voyage to Nootka, in 1788. To which 
we answer, that Spanish navigators had discovered and explored the whole 
coast, in 1774 and 1775 ; that Meares sought in vain to find the Columbia river, 
and had named the cape north of its mouth "Cape Disappointment," and the 
bay itself, " Deception Hay," in token of his failure to find the object of his 
search. They next claimed title by virtue of the discovery of the river -by Cap- 
tain Vancouver, in 1792. To which we answer, that the river had already been 
discovered and navigated by Captain Gray ; that Vancouver and Broughion re- 
ceived their information from Gray ; and prove by the journal of Vancouver's 
voyage, vol. 2, pages 41, 58, 388, 393, and 395, that he was entirely ignorant 
of the existence of the river; that it was first discovered by Captain Gray; that 
he doubted the information furnished by Captain Gray, until he had himself vis- 
ited it, by means of that information, and the charts made by Captain Gray, co- 
pies of which Captain Vancouver procured at Nootka Sound. 

Failing thus to establish any title by discovery from the ocean, they pretend 
that Alexander Mackenzie had discovered the Columbia from the interior in 
1792. This was refuted by proving that it was the Tacoutchee or Frazer's 
river, and not the Columbia, which was visited by Mackenzie, and that he did 
not cross the Rocky Mountains until May, 1793, a year after the river was dis- 
covered and navigated by Capt. Gray. They then contended that the Columbia 
was first explored from the inferior by Mr. Thompson, an agent of the Norih- 
west company, prior to, or at the same time with Lewis and Clarke. This 
was refuted, by showing that Lewis and Clarke reached the Pacific, after ex- 
ploring the Columbia from one of its sources in the Rocky Mountains, in No- 
vember, 1805 ; whereas, the party to which Mr. Thompson was attached, did 
not enter the territory drained by the Columbia until 1811, six years afterwards, 
at which time they found the citizens of the United States already established at 
Astoria. 

They then set up the claim of a right of joint occupancy under the Nootka 
Sound Convention of 1790, to which they referred as the record, where their rights 
were "recorded and defined." This convention gave to Great Britain no claim 
to the sovereignly of the country ; it amounted only to the right to trade with the 
natives on the coast " north of Nootka Sound." Although it granted British 
subjects a right to participate in the whale fishery, it expressly prohibited them 
from navigating or carrying on their fisheries within the space often sea leagues 
from any part of the coast then occupied by Spain ; .and that the provisions of 
the convention were temporary in their nature, and dissolved by the war which 
soon after ensued between the two countries. 

We have been thus explicit in expressing our views concerning our title to 
the whole of Oregon, because they coincide in every particular with those ex- 
pressed by General Cass. Though this whole matter has been adjusted by the 
constitutional authorities of our country, we cannot but admire the frank inde- 
pendence and candour which General Cass displayed during the whole contro- 
versy. For future reference these extracts and authorities are invaluable, and 
we conclude our notice of the subject by inserting the following extract from 
his speech on the treaty. 

General Cass said : " I am not going to dig up the treaty of Utrecht from its 
quiet and archaiological grave. I leave it ' alone with its glory.' Its day has 
passed by. It is an obsclcte idea. Not even the Senator from Missouri, (Mr. 
Bknton,) with his great powers, can breathe into that bygone work the breath 
of life, lint were it otherwise, and were the parallel of .9° established by the 
treaty of Utrecht, wbal justification could we have for entertaining this projef, 
or even for receiving it / If England anJ the United States through France, 



51 

whose title we hold, fixed that parallel, as the boundary of their possessions, ex- 
tending to the western ocean, what is this Government negotiating ahout,and what 
is this Senate discussing ? The demand by England of' one inch or acre' south 
of that line would be as dishonest as it would be arrogant, not to say impudent ; 
and our submission would brand us with everlasting disgrace. We have .n-ot her 
bond, assigned to us by France, and her bond is all we shall have, if we yield 
to her present pretensions, and substitute a. treaty of Washington for a treaty of 
Utrecht, with its " marcelously proper line." If this assumption be true, the 
two Governments have been playing a most unworthy part before the world for 
half a century. Unworthy of the one, which in effect denies its own solemn 
compact and disregards it, coolly demanding a large slice of the territory it has 
acknowledged to be ours ; and of the other, which receives the demand with 
equal coolness, and prepares to yield to it. 

" But, sir, bad as this claim is, it is not so bad as that. The country now 
knows that no line west of the Rocky Mountains was established under the 
treaty of Utrecht, and that, in fact, no such line could have been established. 

" It knows that the stipulations of that treaty extended only to the French 
and English colonies. 

" It knows that the country on the northwest coast was then, in effect, un- 
known and unclaimed, or if claimed at all, it was by Spain. 

•' It knows that in the statement of the British claim by the British negotia- 
tors, this treaty of Utrecht was never once alluded to, and that the voyage of 
Cap ain Cook, in 1778, was urged by them as the origin of their title. 

"It knows that the recognition of the Spanish title in 1790, by Great 
Britain, under the Nootka Sound Convention, was utterly inconsistent with the 
notion of a division of that region between France and England, three-fourths 
of a century before. 

During this session, an act was passed by Congress, fbr the admission of 
Texas into the union upon an equal footing with the original States. General 
Cass having been a decided and uncompromising friend to the annexation of 
Texas during the political contest of 1844, gave the measure his heartiest sup- 
port. 

It was during this session of Congress (on the 11th of May, 1846,) that the 
President announced that our territory had been invaded by the Mexican army, 
and that war actually existed between the United States and Mexico. He in- 
voked the prompt action of Congress to recognise the existence of the war, and 
to place at the disposition of the Executive, the means of prosecuting the war 
with vigor, and thus hastening the restoration of peace. On the 1 3lh of May, 
Congress recognised the exestence of the war — declared it to be " by the act of 
Mexico" with almost perfect unanimity, and placed at the disposal of the Presi- 
dent ten millions of money, and fifty thousand volunteers. General Cass strenu- 
ously supported the Administration, and advocated the most energetic measures 
for a vigorous prosecution of the war, and for carrying it into the heart of the 
enemy's country. 

It was during the sessions of this Congress, that the Tariff of 1446, the Inde- 
pendent Treasury and the Warehousing system were established. By the es- 
tablishment of a liberal revenue tariff, for the first time in our legislation during 
the last thirty years, the rights and interests of the farmer and laborer have 
been regarded with the same just and equal favor which has been extended to 
other classes. It is not alone to the exclusive champion of free trade, and the 
ultra advocate of a hard money currency, that the opponents of protection and 
the enemies of a paper currency are to look for the defeat of those measures. 
Such men are usually in the pursuit of some theoretical abstraction, which gives 
them but little influence with practical men. But it is to men of enlarged and- 
liberal views, whose strength of character and influence carry conviction wit!} 



52 

their action, that the country is indebted for radical and beneficial reforms. 
Genera! Cass gave to these great measures the weight of his influence and his 
zealous and unflinching support. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The second session of the twenty. ninth Congress commenced on the 7th 
of December, lb-Ki. The President, in his annual message, gave a condensed 
view of the injuries we had sustained, of the causes which led to the. war, and 
of its progress since its commencement. He recommended the raising of an 
additional force to serve during the war with Mexico. This measure was debat- 
ed for a considerable time in both Houses of Congress. It received the zealous 
and hearty support of General Cass. We herewilh annex a synopsis of his 
speech delivered on the 22d of January, lf-47, in support of the Ten Regiment 

Bill : 

He remarked that there we re two courses for completing the organization of 
the army, presented to them ; and after reading an extract from the Constitution, 
referring to the subject, proceeded: "For the several companies to elect their 
own officers, seemed to him directly contrary to the Constitution. t took from 
the President the prerogative which the Constitution gave him. They all felt 
the crisis in which they were placed. He had not heard a sentiment advanced 
by any gentleman on the other side of the chamber, which was not honorable 
to (be Speaker, They were all anxious for the welfare of the country. He was 
well aware that they ought to look around. He did not wonder at the discus- 
sion or deliberation which had taken place. The last advices from Mexico 
brought intelligence of one of the most singular scenes exhibited in the record 
of nations. It told them of a perseverence belonging to the Spanish character. 
Their Ptesldent had taken an oath that he would not treat with this country 
while our troops were upon one loot of Mexican soil. It showed what they had 
to contend wilh. They should, therefore, address themselves to the shock, and 
make all the arrangements necessary to carry on the war to a successful termi- 
nation ; unless it be, and he trusted there were very few who were prepared to 
abandon the war, silting down as they rose up, with all the wrongs which they 
had suffered from Mexico, unatoned for, after an immense expenditure of blood 
and treasure. He did not believe there were many prepared to advocate such a 
course. As had been well said by the gentleman from Ohio, the constitutional 
management of the warbefonged to the President. Congress could' neither give 
him the power to carry on the war, nor control that power. As to the method in 
which it was to be carried on, w hether by sea or land, it seemed to him. a reason- 
able confidence should be -placed in the Executive of the nation on that point. 
He had experience to guide him. He knew what the country required, what 
forces were necessary. He had informed them of it. It did seem that a reasona- 
ble confidence in the discretion of the Executive, in the experience of the Ad- 
miaistration, should lead them to vote for the measures the President bad called 
for, unless there was some reasonable, objection. He saw none. 

"He could not approve of the course pointed out by the Senator from Texas, 
(Mr. Houston.) His own experience v." as exactly the reverse. For that honor- 
able gentleman, whoso experience in the service of his country, had put imper- 
ishable laurels upon Ids brow, no man who heard him, had a higher respect than 
himself. But ! >f him (ell that g< ntleman that their course in 181:3. was differ- 
ent from the one he proposed. Then they called for twenty regiments of regu- 
lar troops. To the Colonel in Ohio, as he remembered, they said: ''There is a 
blank piece of paper: go to men of talent and enterprise; men in whom 



53 

the public have confidence, select A to be a captain, and say to him, < if you 
will produce fifty men within two months, you shall have a commission.' Then 
let A go to B and say, ' raise fifteen or twenty men, and you shall be lieuten- 
ant ;' and so with others." In that way a regiment was raised in two months. 
Those Colonels went around and selected an officer. It was confidently, pro- 
perly given, properly- exercised. They did not voluntarily throw away the 
power. They found men of character, who raised such men as crossed the 
lake with Harrison, and went on and completed the war. Now, where was the 
difficulty? He did not know what course theywould adopt when they had pass- 
ed the bill ; but he had no doubt the Administration would adopt the best course, 
a course that did not cause unnecessary delays. Let him be allowed to mention 
one fact for the consideration of the honorable Senator from Texas. The pecu- 
niary motive, which he proposed to offer f >r enlistments, was quite different from 
the one which he would approve. He (Mr. Cass,) would grant a bounty to the 
soldiers, and4ie understood from the gentleman from Missouri, the Chairman 
of the Military Committee, (Mr. Benton,) that the effect of the proffered bounty 
had" already been felt, and that enlistments were, consequently, going on more 
rapidly than ever before ; the effect was not to be disguised. Let them look at 
the whole experience of the country. Under Washington, the regular troops 
were found to be the very best which could possibly be raised. More respon- 
sibility could be placed in them. He would not discourage the volunteers — he 
himself had been a volunteer — but it was human nature, that men who en- 
listed in the regular army, and underwent a thorough course of discipline, would 
be more efficient soldiers ; not that the volunteers were inefficient in the day of 
battle. Every man knew, who knew the volunteers, that there was no corps of 
them that would not follow the standard of their country, and uphold it boldly on 
the field of battle. This campaign had showed it. This campaign had shown 
that, in the deadliest of the shock, they had borne the standard of their country 
proudly and aloft. He would say, that the very honor their country had ac- 
quired, by their recent victories, was, to him, a full compensation for every dollar 
they had expended. None regretted the expense more than he ; but, measured 
by dollars and cents, he would i epeat, they had dollar for dollar. They were 
unknown to Europe before. A half century had almost passed away since the 
prowess of the nation had been shown. Europe, and the civilized world had 
forgotten them. They saw a great nation— their keels ploughing every wave— 
their ships at every port. Forgotten !' Ay ! At the the first tap of the drum— 
the first sound of the bugle— what was the effect ? The Government had not 
to summons men to the field ; thev had more than enough. They told them to 
stay at home ; they did not want them. It was absolutely the duty of the Gov. 
ernment to stay the ardor of the citizens. They could not take a tithe of those 
who volunteered their services. A prouder spectacle was never exhibited since 
men were congregated together in civilized societies; a spectacle most clearly 
prophetic for the stability of the Republic. He had nothing to say about Mo- 
narchial Governments. * Let Europe have them ; but ours teihe Government for 
us — a Government in which the property and rights of citizens were sacred ; 
and it was now shown that, m lime of war, it was equal to a defence. He knew 
there had been a good deal said about the injustice of the war ; but he suppos- 
ed there was not an honorable Senator on his side of the chamber who saw no 
cause for the war. Some might say that it was inexpedient to go to war at the 
time ; but no one, looking upon the long catalogue of aggravation?, would say 
that (here was no cause for it. The President had asked them for regular forces ; 
for ten regi merits of men. The Constitution had given him the power to do it. 
They should support him. Therefore he did trust that the bill, reportedly the 
Military Committee, in conformity with his requisition, might be passed.' 



54 

For the purpose of securing a speedy and honorable peace with Mexico, the 
President recommended that a sum of money should be appropriated, and placed 
in the power of the Executive, similar to that which had been made upon two 
former occasions, during the Administration of President Jefferson. 

In pursuance of this recommendation, Mr. Sevier, Chairman of the Commit- 
tee on Foreign Relations, repoited the following bill : 

" lie it enated, That a sum of money, not exceeding three millions of dollars, 
be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, for the purpose of defraying any extra- 
ordinary expenses which may be incurred in order to bring the existing war with 
Mexico to a speedy and honorable conclusion, to be paid out of any money in 
the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and to be applied under the direction of 
the President of the United States, who shall cause an account of the expendi- 
tures thereof to be laid before Congress as soon as may be." 

The design of the Committee in reporting this bill was to follow the prece- 
dents of Mr. Jefferson in reference to the acquisition of Louisiana in 1803, and 
the purchase of Florida in 1806, excluding all extraneous matter, and incorpor- 
ating nothing that was calculated to excite sectional or party feeling, or to oc- 
casion protracted debate. Amendments, however, were offered to the bill — one 
by Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, declaring it to be the true intent and meaning of 
Congress, that the war ought not to be prosecuted with a view to territorial in- 
demnity, and another by Mr. Upham, of Vermont, comprehending the pernicious 
doctrine of the " Wilmot Proviso." General Cass offered a substitute to the 
amendment of Mr. Berrien, to the effect, that the war should be vigorously pro- 
secuted to a successful issue, and that a reasonable indemnity should be obtained 
from Mexico for the wrongs she has committed towards the Government of the 
United States, and that the nature and extent of such indemnity are proper sub- 
jects for Executive consideration, when negotiations for peace may be opened 
between this country and Mexico. 

On the 10th of February, General Cass addressed the Senate in support of 
the Three Million Bill, in a powerful and luminous exposition of the sophis- 
tries of the opponents of the Administration. He said, "I shall not touch any 
o? the topics before us as a sectional man. I view them, and shall present 
them, as an American citizen, looking to the honor and interests of his country 
and of his whole country. In these great questions of national bearing, I ac- 
knowledge no geographical claims. What is best for the United States is best 
for me ; and in that spirit alone shall I pursue the discussion." * * * * 

11 We are at war with Mexico, brought on by her injustice. Before peace is 
established we have a right to require a reasonable indemnity, either pecuniary 
or territorial, or both, for the injuries we have sustained. Such a compensation 
is just in itself, and in strict accordance with the usages of nations. One me- 
m irable proof of this has passed in our own times. When the allies entered 
Paris, after the overthrow of Napoleon, they compelled the French Government 
to pay them an indemnity of 1,500,000,000 francs, equal to $300 000,000. In 
the condition of Mexico, there is no disposition in this country to ask of her an 
unreasonable sacrifice. On the contrary, the wish is everywhere prevalent, and 
I am sure the Government participate in it, that we should demand less than we 
are entitled to. No one proposes a rigid standard by which the indemnity shall 
be measured. But there are certain territorial acquisitions which are important 
to us, and whose cession cannot injure Mexico, as she never can hold them per- 
manently. We are willing, after settling the indemnity saiisfactorily, to pay for 
the excess in money. The Senator from South Carolina has stated the propo- 
sition very distinctly, 'any excess on our part we are willing to meet, as wo 
ought, by the necessary payment to Mexico.' 

" Information received by the President, during the last session of Congress, 
induced him to believe that if an appropriation for this purpose were made, the 



55 

difficulties between the two countries might soon be terminated by an amicable 
arrangement. A proposition for that purpose was submitted to us in secret ses- 
sion, debated and approved by this Senate. It was then introduced into the 
Legislature with open doors, passed the House of Representatives, and came to 
us. Here it was discussed until the stroke of the clock, when the hand on the 
dial-plate pointed to 12, struck its funeral knell. In his message at the com- 
mencement of this Congress, the President renewed his suggestion, and the 
whole matter is now before us. Such is its -history. 

" It is now objected to as an immoral proposition, a kind of bribery, either of 
the Government of Mexico, or of its commanding General ; and the honorable 
Senator from Maryland, who is not now in his seat, said emphatically and so- 
lemnly, 'that this project of terminating the war by dismembering a sister Re- 
public, is so revolting to my moral sense of propriety, honor, and justice, that 
I should see my arms palsied by my side, rather than agree to it.' The 'dis- 
memberment' of which the honorable member speaks is previously defined by 
himself That is the term he gives the acquisition, but I call it purchase. He 
says the money will go to Santa Anna and pay the army, which will thus be 
secured, and the poor 'downtrodden ' people be transferred to this country 'in 
spite of themselves,' in consequence of this 'pouring of gifts into the hands of 
their tyrants.' 

"Now, sir, there is no such proposition, as I understand it, nor any thing like 
it. The object of the President has been distinctly stated by himself. It is to 
have the money ready, and if a satisfactory treaty is signed and ratified, then to 
make a payment into the treasury of Mexico, which will be disposed of by the 
Government of that country, agreeably to its own laws. The propositions, both 
at the List session of Congress and at this, were identical. The difference in 
the phraseology of the appropriation has been satisfactorily explained by the 
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, and seems to me of very little 
consequence. Be that as it may, it is not a subject which can produce, of itself, 
any practical difficulty. For if there is any member of the Senate who is will- 
ing to vote for the appropriation in the form in which it was presented last year, 
and is unwilling to vote for it in this, the Committee on Foreign Relations will 
cheerfully assent to the substitution of the latter for the former. 'The principle 
is wrong,' says the honorable Senator from Maryland. But, in my view, the 
principle of this appropriation, and the other appropriation is precisely the same. 
And yet, the honorable Senator from Maryland voted for the former, while he re- 
probates the present, and a number of Senators on the other side of the chamber 
voted the last session in the same manner. If the proposition was bribery or 
unprincipled then, it seems to me it must be so now. Expediency may change 
with time, but right and wrong undergo no change. 

" As to the idea that such an arrangement is something like bribery, it seems to 
me it will not bear the slightest investigation. A strange kind of bribery this ! The 
appropriation called for was preceded by a message from the President to the 
Senate in secret session. It was then received in both Houses, and the doors 
thrown open. It was discussed fully, not to say. warmly, and was finally lost by 
the lapse of time. In secret session thirty. three Senators voted for it. It again 
takes a prominent place in the President's message at the commencement of the 
present session of Conoress. It has been before us between two and three 
months, and has been borne upon the wings of the wind to the remotest por- 
tions of our country. It entered Mexico long ago, and has been proclaimed 
upon every house, top in town and country. It is known to every citizen of that 
Republic, who knowns any thing of political affairs, whether the blood in his 
viens is Castilian, or Moorish, or Aztec. It has passed to Europe, and received 
the condemnations of many of its journals. Had it been approved there, I 
should doubt its policy or its justice. And, for aught I know, it is tiavelling 



56 

along the canals of the Celestial Empire. I repeat, a strange kind of bribery 
this! That is an offence which does its work in secret. This is a proposition 
made by one nation to another, in the face of the world. It is not to enable 
Mexico to carry on the war, as an Honorable Senator seems to suppose, for it is 
not to be paid till the war is over." * * * 

"But, sir, passing from the external view of our difficulties with Mexico, we 
have still an internal one to take, which involves much higher considerations. 
The causes of the war are a grave subject o! discussion. Public opinion is 
investigating and pi enouncing its judgement upon them. For myself, 1 have no 
fear of the result. The more the question is examined, the more manifest will 
be our wrongs, and the clearer our forbearance. In the President's lust annual 
message, an interesting synopsis was given of the conduct of Mexico towards 
this country. No more conclusive review of national wrongs has ever appealed 
to the public opinion of this country, or of the world. It recapitulates, calmly, 
and with truth and force, the still accumulating wrongs we had suffered, and the 
final act which crowned them — the invasion of our country and the attack upon 
our army; an attack, which the Mexican authorities declared they would make 
as far east as the Sabine river. 

" I shall not, Mr. President, go over the whole ground of our difficulties with 
Mexico. I regret that it becomes necessary to investigate their history in this 
place. I regret that unanimity does not prevail upon this subject, when unanim- 
ity is so essential to prompt and vigorous action. While I regret it, however, I 
impugn the motives of no one. Thank God we areas free to investigate the 
conduct of the Government as we are to breathe the air oT heaven. But while 
I concede to others the same right, I claim for myself the right to examine freely, 
and to judge openly, the conduct of the Government in its intercourse with other 
nations — I may be allowed to express the regret, and together with the regret, 
surprise, that throughout the country one undivided sentiment had not prevailed — 
that the conduct of Mexico left us no choice between war and dishonor. 

'•We were the first to receive that Republic into the family of nations. Our 
complaints against her commenced almost with the commencement of her indepen- 
dence. They go back to the year 1317, and come down to the present day, it) 
one almost uninterrupted series of outrages. 1 shall not state them seriatim, 
nor enter into the detail of their nature and extent. This has been repeatedly 
done, and the official documents are before the country. 1 will merely classify 
from an able report, made by Mr. Forsyth, in 1337, the various heads of com- 
plaints, which will present the general aspect of the subject. 

1. Treasure belonging to citizens of the United States has been seized by 
Mexican officers in its transit from the capital to the coast. 

2. Vessels of the United States have been captured, detained, and condemned, 
upon the most frivi.lous pretexts. 

3. Duties have been exacted from others notoiiously against law, or without 
law. 

4. Other vessels have be°n employed, and, in some instances, ruined, in the 
Mexican service, without compensation to the owners. 

"i. Citizens of the United States have been imprisoned fur long periods of 
time, without being informed of the offences with which they were charged. 

6. Other citizens have been murdered and robbed by Mexican officers on the 
high seas, without any attempt to bring the guilty to justice. * * * 

"As to the conventions which have since been made by the two countries, 
and violated by Mexico, I need not enter into their history: they are fresh in 
the recollection of all. The-- three conventions, by the inn lelity of the 1 .b i .\i- 
can Government, have proved nearly fruiiless ; and alter thirty years of. injury 
on the one side, and of remonstrance on the other, there is nothing left for us 
but to abandon all hope of redress, or to obtain it by a vigorous prosecution of 



57 

the war. * * * But it has been said that although sufficient causes of war 
existed on our part, still it was not these causes which provoked immediate hos- 
tilities. This view, if true, has relation to the expediency, and not to the jus- 
tice of the war. But what are the general facts upon which a just conclusion can 
be formed ? After the convention of Texas had decided that that Republic would 
annex herself to ihe United States, agreeably to the terms held out in the act 
of Congress, hut before its consummation by a vote of the Texan people, we 
were under a strong moral obligation to protect her from any foreign invasion, 
and more particularly from any invasion to which she might be exposed by the 
manifestations of her intentions to attach herself to the United States. I shall 
not argue this point. No illustration can make it stronger. As soon, therefore, 
as the incipient steps had been taken, our troops entered Texas, by the invita- 
tion of the proper authorities, and on the 15th day of August, 1845, they had 
taken a position at Corpus Christi, west of the Nueces, and remained there till 
the 17. h of March, 1848, when they marched for the Rio Grande. So much 
for our military movements. 

" Two causes are alleged as giving Mexico just cause of war against the Uni- 
ted States. The first, which is the annexation of Texas, is jointly urged both 
in Mexico and in this country. The second, which I believe finds its advocates 
only in the United States, is that our army occupied the country between the Nue- 
ces and the Rio Grande. As to the first, it has passed the ordeal of public 
opinion, and received its final judgment. * * * We claim Texas to the 
Rio Grande. I will not stop to examine the grounds of that claim, 'i his has 
been explained and defended by others, more competent to the task than I am. 
* * * The Texas of Mexico was Texas to the Sabine, with no intermediate 
boundary to which we might go with impunity, and make the country our own. 
That river was a Rubicon, and it became us to pause and ponder on its banks, 
before we crossed its stream, and carried our standard to the country beyond. 
In all ihe communications of the Mexican Government, no distinction is made 
between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. And the occupation, by our forces, ( f 
the country between these rivers, which took place in August, 1845, was never 
presented as an exclusive cause of complaint, nor, indeed, noticed in any man- 
ner whatever. It was the annexation and occupation of Texas, and not of any 
particular portion of it, which led to the reclamations, and, finally, to the hostili- 
ties of Mexico. It was a question of title, and not of boundary, and would 
never be satisfied with the relinquishment of a part. * * * We had taken 
up a position peaceably within our own territory, as we claimed it, and with no 
intimation from our opponent that that position was any more an infraction of his 
rights, than would have been the occupation of the western bank of the Sabine. I 
repeat, that during eight months, we had been west of the Nueces, without one 
word of complaint for having passed that river." 

The principle involved in the amendment of Senator Upham, (viz: "that 
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory which 
may be hereafter annexed to the. United States,") is fraught with evil consequen- 
ces. All the territory of the Union is the common property of all the States ; 
every member, new or old, of the Union, admitted to partnership, under the 
Constitution, has a perfect right to enjoy the territory which i< the common pro- 
perty of all. Some of it was acquired by treaties — much of it by cession from 
the older States — large quantities by purchase from Spain and Franbe — large 
tracts again by the annexation of Texas — and the present war will add still 
more to the quantity yet to be entered. All this land, no matter whence it wis 
derived, belongs to all the States jointly. The lights of all the citizens of the 
older States to emigrate with all their properly whatsoever, and enjoy therewith 
the vacant lands, is perfect. The Constitution, by which the thirteen original 
slave States entered into a Union, which admitted Vermont as a slave State, 



53 

recognizes and guarantees slaves as the property of their owners. To set up, 
therefore, a pretence that if they adhere to the property they possess, they shall 
be deprived of their rights in the States to be formed in any acquired territory, 
is an unprincipled violation of a solemn treaty, an attack upon the Constitution, 
and a gross injustice to the rights of the neighboring Slates. 

This right ol property in slaves is guarantied as a municipal regulation ; it 
in no shape bears a national character under the Constitution. When these 
new States come into the Union they are controlled by the Constitution only; 
and as that instrument permits slavery in all the States that arc ■parlies to it, 
how can Congress prevent it ? We do not pretend to deny, that if territory is 
to be conquered or purchased for the pvrpose of extending slavery, it is a viola- 
tion of the Constitution ; but it is equally a violation of the Constitution for 
Congress to undertake to say that there shall be no slavery. 

The views expressed by General Cass, on the 1st of March, 1947, in oppo- 
sition to Senator Upham's amendment, are liberal and truly national. No 
sectional or local prejudice seem to operate on his mind ; he acts with a re- 
publican spirit, evincing an anxious desire to preserve, unimpaired, the well 
settled compromises of the Constitution. He said : 

" What sort of a spectacle does this proceeding present to the world ? Dis- 
guise it as we may, it is a .Mexican cession we are looking to, and Mexican terri- 
tory we are preparing to govern. We are gravely stopping in the midst of our 
legitimate duties, while deficient supplies, a defective organization, an insuffi- 
cient force, demand legislative action ; and while the President is appealing to us 
for th° means of prosecuting the war vigorously and successfully, we are stop- 
ping in order to regulate the condition of countries, extending to the Pacific 
ocean ; and which, if they are ever ours, must become so, after the vicissitudes of 
-war shall have established our power, and reduced the enemy to submission. I 
doubt if history furnishes another such instance of legislative farsightedness. 

" I shall (said Mr. C.) vote against the proviso, because, 

1. The present is no proper time for the introduction into the country, and into. 
Congress, of an exciting topic, tending to divide us, when our united exertions 
are necessary to prosecute the existing war. 

2. It will be quite in season to provide for the Government of territory, not yet 
acquired from foreign countries, after we shall have obtained it. 

3. The proviso can only apply to British and Mexican territories, as there are 
no others coterminous to us. Its phraseology would reach either, though its ap- 
plication is pointed to Mexico. It seems to me, that to express so much confi- 
dence in the successful residt ofthis war, as to legislate at this time, if not over 
this anticipated acquisition, at least, for it, and to lay down a partial basis for its 
government, would do us no good in the eyes of the world, and would irri- 
tate, still more, the Mexican people. 

4. Legislation now would be wholly imperative, because no tenitory here- 
after to be acquired can be governed without an act of Congress providing 
for its government. And such an act, on its passage, would open the whole 
subject, and would leave the Congress called upon to pass it, free to exercise 
its own discretion, entirely uncontrolled by any declaration found on the statute 
book. 

5. There is great reason to think, that the adoption of this proviso would, 
in all probability, bring the war to an untimely issue, by the effect it would 
have on future operations. 

6. Its passage would certainly prevent the acquisition of one foot of territory ; 
thus defeating a measure called for by a vast majority of the American people, 
and defeating it, too, by the very act purporting to establish a partial basis for its 
government." 



59 

The great national calamity which befel Ireland during the years 1846-7, 
was deplored and lamented by all. The appalling and distressing scenes 
which occurred in that unhappy Isle, attracted the attention of every philan- 
thropist. In the United States Senate, on the 26th of February, H46, Sena- 
CrUtenden, of Kentucky, reported a bill, appropriating $.300,000 "for the re- 
lief ot the people of Ireland and Scotland, suffering from the great calamity 
of scarcity and famine." The bill was supported by General Cass in the fol- 
lowing pertinent and eloquent speech. 

He said : " As one member of this body, he felt obliged to the Senator from 
Kentucky for the motion he had submitted, and for the appropriate remarks 
with which he had introduced it. He has expressed my sentiments, but with 
an eloquence peculiarly his own. While physical want is unknown in our coun- 
try, the angel of death is striking down the famishing population of Europe, 
and especially the suffering people of Ireland. The accounts which reach us 
from that country indicate a state of distress, in extent and degree, lar ex- 
ceeding any previous experience in modern times. It is a case beyond the 
reach of private charity. Its fountains are drying up before the magnitude of 
the evil. It is a national calamity, and calls for national contributions. The 
starving millions have no Egypt ' where they can go and buy corn, that they 
may live and not die.' From our granary of abundance let us pour forth sup- 
plies. Ireland has strong claims upon the sympathy of the United States. 
There are few of our citizens who have not Irish blood in their viens. That 
country has sent out a large portion of the emigrants who have added numbers 
to our population, industry and enterprise to our capital, and the other elements 
of power and prosperity which are doing that mighty work, from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, that is already exciting the admiration of the old world, and will 
stimulate, by its example, the exertions ot the new. Our population of Irish 
descent have fought the battles of the country with as much zeal and bravery 
as any class of citizens And from the heights of Abraham, where Mont- 
gomery fell, to the walls of Monterey, their blood has been poured out like 
water in defence of liberty. We can now send to Ireland, not, indeed, what 
she has sent to us, her children — those we cannot part with — but food for 
ther relatives, our friends, upon whom the hand of God is heavily laid. In a 
petition presented yesterday, by the Senator from New York, was a suggestion 
which I am gratified to find embodied in the bill reported by the Senator from 
Kentucky, and which I should be happy to see carried into effect — to employ, in 
the transportation of provisions, such of the armed ships of the United States 
as are not required for the operations of war. It would be a beautiful tribute 
to the advancing spirit of the age. The messenger of death would thus become 
a messenger of life ; the agents of destruction, agents of preservation ; and our 
eagle, which has flown above them, and carried our arms to the very coasts of 
Ireland, would thus become the signal of hope, where it has been the signal 
of defiance. I shall lend the bill my support with great pleasure." 



CHAPTER X. 



The first session of the thirtieth Congress commenced onthe 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1847. General Cass was selected as chairman of the Committee on Mili- 
tary Affairs, the position he now holds. The President, in his annual message, 
gave a succinct account of the rapid and brilliant successes of our arms in Mex- 
ico, and the vast extent of the enemy's territory which had been overrun. He 
asked for authority to raise an additional regular force to serve during the war 



60 

with Mexico, and to be discharged upon the conclusion and ratification of a trea- 
ty of peace. 

It is not our design to enter into a vindication of the policy and measures of 
the National Administration in relation to the Mexican war. B>it we cannot re- 
frain from saying that the United States did all that justice and magnanimity, 
good will, and even forbearance required, to avoid the dire calamities of war, 
and procure a peaceful settlement of a boundary. Mexico hud both done and 
threatened injury to the United States. She had violated her treaties, insulted 
he nation through our ministers, suspended all intercourse, and continually me- 
naced us with hostilities. We feel confident that our country was right in what 
has been done, and that the conduct of its rulers is justified before the country, 
the nation s of the earth, and the God of battles. 

In compliance with the wishes of the President, a bill was accordingly re- 
ported in the Senate from the Committee on Military Affairs, to raise ten addi- 
tional regiments of regulars. General Cass' speech, on the 17th March, in 
defence of the bill, and intended to be a closing review of the whole debate, will 
be found to present a most comprehensive and cogent refutation of the main posi- 
tions taken by the opponents of the war. 

The Washington correspondent of the "Albany Argus" says, that "the 
speech of General Cass on closing the debate on the ten regiment bill, is re- 
garded here as a brilliant and unanswerable defence of the policy of the Gov- 
ernment in relation to the Mexican war. It is more ; it is an able and compre- 
hensive view of the great principles of human progress, as they arc embodied 
in our frame of republican Government. It is a performance that looks beyond 
the limited bounds of sectional and party strifes, and takes up the vindication of 
our country on its broad principles, and I am greatly deceived if the yeomanry 
of the country does not accept it as a triumphant exposition of its character and 
rights before the world. With the personal knowledge which the General had 
of the courts and policy of Europe, and the leading features of its history, in 
war and peace, it was impossible for him not to cast a glance over the wide 
and varied scenes where its nations have marched armies and concluded treaties 
of peace. The survey which he has given of these scenes is at once rapid, bold, 
and comprehensive. He has observed with the eye of a soldier, and he speaks 
with the voice of a statesman. Those who heard him in the Senate, speak of 
it as having produced a thrilling effect ; and no one can read the report of it 
without being prend of his country, in having men of this stamp to rise up and 
bear testimony in its behalf." 

From a revised copy of General Cass' speech above referred to, we make the 
following extract : 

" The Senator (Mr. Calhoun) says also that the passage of this bill will be 
mischievous in Mexico, because it will animate some of the parties into which 
that unhappy country is divided, to increased exertions against us. If this be 
so, it presents to me a new chapter in human nature. When our country is at 
war, or apparently approaching it, to put on an armor and an attitude befitting 
the occasion, would be, according to this new principle of national intercommuni- 
cation, impolitic, if not dangerous, as it would exile the enemy to more rigorous 
action. Mr. President, it is not thus I have read history, and it not thus that 
public disputes are brought to satisfactory termination. If in peace to prepare 
for war, is a wise sentiment, now become an axiom, certainly, when hostilities 
have actually commenced, and two Powers are contending for th* 1 ma-lery, it 
one relaxes its preparations for fear of animating the exertions of the other, it 
is not difficult to foresee ' > what dishonor such a course, whether originating in 
pusillanimity or (Wee magnanimity, mtit<t necessarily load." * * * 

"The Senator from South Carolina, instead of a vigorous prosecution of the 
war, proposes to withdraw our troops from the other portions of the Mexican 



61 

country, and to establish them upon a line which shall be the boundary of the 
territory which we intend to hold. This proposition has, in substance, been 
twice before made by the honorable Senator — once at the last session of Con- 
gress, and once, some weeks since, at the present. lie supported his views 
then, and now, with that force which marks his reasoning. But while he in- 
terested, he did not convince me. There never was such a line — there never 
will be such a one. I say it with all due deference, hut with a perfect convic- 
tion of the truth, that such a line is impossible. That which the Senator pro- 
poses runs from the Rio Grande to the Paso del Norte, probably about eight 
hundred miles ; and thence, with a dellection not necessary to notice, to the Pa- 
cifice ocean, which is little less than an equal distance ; making, upon (he whole 
route, probably 1,530 miles. The force required to defend the line of the Rio 
Grande, the honorable Senator does not give ; but he thinks a small one would 
be sufficient. I have conversed with one of our ablest Generals upon this sub- 
ject, and he considers 20,000 men necessary to the defence of the Rio Grande 
frontier, 

"From the Paso del Norte to the Gulf of California, the Senator from South 
Carolina thinks that one regiment and a few small vessels of war would be an 
adequate protection against Mexicans and Indians. What effect armed vessels 
can have in the defence of a line which stretches six hundred miles beyond 
thern, as I do not comprehend, I will not stop to inquire. Their guns would 
probably command the beach, off which they might anchor, if they anchored 
near enough. But I do not believe that a Mexican guerilla would place himself 
within their reach in order to cross a line open to him in all directions. As to 
the regiment, if equally divided, its number fit for duty would probably give one 
man to every mile of distance between the Paso and the Gulf; certainly not 
more." * * * 

" Sent here as practical men, to deal with the interests of our country, we must 
not be diverted from the true path marked out by the experience and the usages 
of the world, by crude speculations and misplaced philanthropy. We were ag- 
grieved and injured, and could obtain no redress; and we were entitled to take 
our remedy into our own hands, in cider to obtain that justice which was perti- 
naciously withheld from us. The most superficial reader of modern history, the 
most casual observer of passing events, must know that outrages far less flagrant in 
their character than those committed by Mexico against us, have occasioned half 
the wars of modern times. 

"But, sir, I am well aware that these considerations apply only to our just 
right to declare war against Mexico at anytime within the last twenty years. 
We did not commit the offensive. Mexico herself struck the first stroke ; and 
•why ? Because Texas was annexed to the United States. I recollect the gen- 
tlemen on the other side of the chamber thought there was some fluttering in 
our ranks, when this avowal was first made. But there was none whatever, 
sir. We concde the proposition in its fullest extent, that this annexation was 
the cause of war. How then, sir, stands this great question, as to the justice 
of its commencement. 

" Texas, a constituent portion of the Mexican Republic, declared itself inde- 
pendent, as Mexico, a constituent portion of the Spanish monarchy, had done 
before it, and asserted and maintained its rights by a revolution. 

"The war between these two powers continued for sometime, with varying 
success, till 1600, when a Mexican army, led by the Chief Magistrate of the 
Republic, was conquered, an 1 dispersed, or made prisoners, and the commander 
himself captured.'' 

" After the month of June of that yea-, Texas continued in the undisturbed 
possession of her independence, and no effort was made to reduce her, not a single 
Mexican party, with the exception, I understand, of two predatory incursions, 



62 

having since ever made an inroad into her territory. The war was, in tact, at 
an end. 

"In the meantime, the independence of Texas was acknowledged by the Uni- 
ted States, and by some of the other principal powers of the world ; and she 
was permitted to take her equal station among the nations of the earth. 

" But it has been said — not in Mexico, but here — that the origin ot the war 
was not in the annexation of Texas, but because we carried her boundary to 
the Rio Grande, and took possession of the country between the Nueces and 
that river. Who says this, Mr. President ? Not the Government or people of 
Mexico, but citizens of our own country, who find a cause of offence for the 
enemy, which they have failed to discover for themselves. The Nueces is an 
American, not a Mexican boundary. The Texas of Mexico was Texas to the 
Sabine, with no intermediate boundary. In all the communications with the 
Mexican Government, as I have had occasion to say before, no distinction is 
made between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. And the occupation by our 
forces of the country between these rivers, was never presented as an exclusive 
cause of complaint, nor, indeed, noticed in any manner whatever. It was the 
annexation and occupation of Texas, and not of any particular portion of Texas, 
which led to the reclamation, and finally, to the hostilities of Mexico. It was a 
question of title, and not of boundary : a claim of right, which went for the 
whole, and would never be satisfied with the relinquishment of a part." 

General Cass, in the same speech, advocated a vigorous, efficient, and prompt 
prosecution of the war, until the Mexican people are satisfied of their inability 
to resist us, and are disposed to make a reasonable peace. He alluded to the 
overweening vanity of the Mexican people, and referred to the divisions which 
prevail in cur couacils, and to the opposition which the legislative measures of 
the war had to encounter. He continued, " the remedy for all this is a palpable 
one ; it is founded in human nature : increase your forces, extend your opera- 
tions, overrun district after district, establish yourself in city after city, awaken 
the Mexicans from their lethargy of false hopes, and let them feel that they have 
no recourse but to do us justice. And add to all this, union in our councils at 
home, which, after all, is the first element of prompt success. Postpone our in- 
ternal difficulties till our external ones are adjusted. One unanimous vote in 
each of these two halls, evincing a determination to prosecute the war with all 
our strength, would be better than an army with banners. It would be amoral 
force that would proclaim our power, and conquer the peace we so much desire." 

Speaking of the objects of the war, General Cass said, that "one single word 
fully expressed his views upon this subject, and that word is acquisition. The 
object of the war is an honorable peace, and that peace can best be obtained by 
an adequate compensation for the injuries done us by Mexico ; and that compen- 
sation must be made in territory, as it can be made in nothing else." 

We have thus placed in as concise and condensed a form as possible, the 
views of General Cass concerning the war with Mexico. That he has uttered 
the sentiments of a large majority of the American people, we cannot permit 
ourselves for one moment to doubt. The bold, manly, and patriotic stand taken 
by him, from the very moment that Mexico presented herself in a hostile atti- 
tude to the present hour, commends itself to the grateful remembrance of our 
countrymen. His positions are broad, independent, and unqualified. His coun- 
try's cause — his nation's honor — his people's rights, are the principles he as- 
serts — the ground he goes upon.' That his views of Government are liberal, 
enlarged, extended, progressive, and thoroughly Democratic, we have but to refer 
to his speeches on the " propriety of Bending B minister to the Papal States," 
and his remarks on the "late French revolution" — the former delivered in the 
United Slates Senate on the 21st of March — the latter at a public meeting in 
the city of Washington on the 28th of March. 



63 

The President, in his last annual message, recommended the opening of dip- 
lomatic relations with the Pope. The interesting political events which had 
taken place in Italy, as well as a just regard to our commercial interests ren- 
dered such a measure highly expedient. All eyes have been for sometime fixed 
with an attentive gaze upon the affairs of the Papal States, and the civilized 
world has viewed with an interest scarcely before equalled, the events which 
have accompanied the religious and political reforms which Pope Pius IX has 
carried out with so stern, so fearless, and so impartial a hand That aide na- 
tional magazine, the Democratic Review, in referring to these late reforms, con- 
siders the Roman Catholic Church as standing in unparalleled grandeur; the 
greatest of all christian denominations ; and the magnificence, extension, and 
solidity of her institutions and tenets,. furnish a subject deserving the most ex- 
tensive research and the minutes', inquiry. 

In accordance with the recommendation of the President, a bill was intro- 
duced for the appointment of a Charge d'Affaires to the Papal States. General 
Cass advocated the appointment of a minister of the highest grade. He said : 

" We cannot mistake, and ought not to misunderstand, these signs of the times. 
Human rights are everywhere advancing, or rather, man is awakening to a 
knowledge of his rights, and a conviction of his strength. The desire of liberty- 
is an instinctive feeling in the heman breast ; but the practical enjoyment of 
liberty secured against wild licentiousness, is a problem sometimes of difficult 
solution. It was solved here by our institutions, by the nature of our society, 
and by the intelligence ol our people. In fact, we were always free ; and it 
was rather the fear of oppression, the fear of the consequences of the estab- 
lishment of British legislative supremacy in our internal concerns, than any ac- 
tual oppression, which drove our fathers to resistance, and taught that blessed 
lesson of equal rights, which the world, if slow, is sure to learn. Rut in other 
countries, under less favorable circumstances, where despotism has entered into 
the social system, the road to free governments is beset with trials and difficul- 
ties. The habits of society must be changed, and this, itself is no easy task in 
tho old regions of the eastern hemisphere. Effort after effort has often been, 
made ; but experience and knowledge are acquired at every step of the progress, 
and the public mind is enlightened by the conflict itself. Excesses have taken 
place, which, while they cannot be justified, find much alleviation in the condi- 
tion of things. Revolutions are made here by the ballot box, but in Europe by 
the cartridge box. Political intelligence, however, comes with time and expe- 
rience, and if it comes with trials and sufferings, its advent is not the less cer- 
tain, and will not prove the less efficacious. National struggles constitute a 
great school, where lessons of freedom are learned ; and though they may be 
often checked and interrupted, still their progress is onward, and the result, we 
may hope, beyond the reach of arbitrary power. We are no propagandists. 
We acknowledge the right of all other people to establish and maintain their 
own Governments in their own way, content to enjoy the same privilege our- 
selves. This has always been our principle, and I hope always will be ; but we 
cannot shut our eyes to what is going on in the political world, nor ought we to 
shut our hearts against the emotions they naturally excite. If we ought not to 
give them our aid, we can give them our sympathy ; and the sympathy of twenty 
millions of people cannot but exert a happy influence upon the struggling mas- 
ses, contending for themselves, in our day, for what our fathers acquired for ug 
in theirs. 

"It seems to me the Pope has shown himself both a wise and a liberal sove- 
reign. Nothing proves his favorable disposition towards political meliorations 
better than the unquiet jealousy with which he is regarded! by the despotic pow- 
ers of Europe. Immediately on his elevation to the chaii of St. Peter, thia 
feeling manifested itself, in consequence of his avowed determination to reiorm 



64 

the errors and abuses of his Government. * * * It is doubted here, sir, 
whether the Protestant powers of continental Europe maintain diplomatic rela- 
tions with tlie Papal Government. There is no room for the doubt ; none what- 
ever. Protestant representatives reside at Rome, and Papal agents are found in 
Protestant countries. One of the most celebrated historians of our times, Nieh- 
bur, was for many years Minister from Russia, at the Papal Court, and I found 
his successor there in H37, Mr. Bunsen, a name scarcely inferior to the other, 
in all the investigations connected with the history of ancient Rome. I hope, 
sir, that provision will be made for sending a Minister of the highest grade to 
the Roman Court ; and that we shall take our place among the representatives 
of the great family of nations, in a city where events of the highest importance 
to the destiny of the human race arc passing and to pass." 

Upon the 28th of March, the citizens of Washington and a number of members 
of Congress, assembled to congratulate the French people upon the liberty which 
they have acquired, and the free principles they have established as the basis of 
their Government. For some days prior to the assemblage of the meeting, the 
"National Intelligencer" took a definite position against the great popular 
movement. In its tirade upon this subject, it attempted to distort and misrepre- 
sent the opinions of General Cass, as expressed in his work to which we have 
previously referred, " France, its Court and King." 

The General, in his address before the "Washington meeting," after express- 
ing the deep sympathy and interest he felt in the glorious and auspicious move- 
ment of the French nation, thus speaks of the charges of the Intellingencer. He 
said : 

" I should not have said one word to you to-night, my fellow-citizens, had I not 
been induced to do so by a particular circumstance. A few years since, when 
in France, I published in the democratic Review, some remarks upon the con- 
dition of that country. Among these were allusions to the emeules, which were 
often breaking out in the streets of Paris, and occasioning consternation and 
alarm to the quiet citizens, who were disturbed in their occupations by the din of 
arms, and sometimes by bloody conflicts in the midst of their city : and all this 
without the least beneficial result, or any expectation of it. They were not re- 
volutions ; they were riots and insurrections. I communicated, also, the facts as 
disclosed by the witnesses on the trials of persons indicted for these offences. It 
was shown conclusively, that the persons engaged in them, belonged to secret 
societies, sworn to abolish the Christian religion, to destroy all rights of proper- 
ty, and to overturn, in fact, social order. I was describing, more particularly, 
what, in France, were technically called the days of May, 1839. The senti- 
ments of a journal, which favored these proceedings, may be judged by the. term 
which it employs, when speaking of the United States, whose Government it calls 
'a ridiculous Republic, ah'd a moneyed aristocracy.' The following quotations 
mark its spirit and objects : 

"' It is, without doubt, beautiful to be an athiest, but that is not enough,' &c. 
"It ought to say, 'all that is connected with religious worship is contrary to 
our progress ; while, at the same time, whenever people are religious, they talk 
nonsense.' " 

" My condemnation of such principles has recently been construed into a con- 
demnation Qf the principles of revolutions brought about by the people seeking 
the redress of their grievances. There never was a feeling of my heart, a word 
of my mouth, nor an act of my life, which would give any man a right to call in 
question my sympathy with the struggling masse i, or the sincerity of my hopes 
for their success; and I defy any man to quote from my remarks, upon the con- 
dition of France, one single sentence inconsistent with the progress of national 
liberty." 



65 

Though we have already referred to the patriotic and straightfoward course of 
General Cass, in relation to the Mexican War and the Wilmot Proviso, the fol» 
lowing letter addressed to the Hon. A. O. P Nicholson, of Nashville, Tennessee 
presents his views in a still more condensed form : 

Washington, December 24, 1847. 

Dear Sir : I have received your letter and shall answer it as frankly as it is 
written. 

You ask me whether I am in favor of the acquisition of Mexican territory, and 
what are my sentiments with regard to the Wilmot Proviso? 

I have so often and so explicitly stated my views of the first questun, in the 
Senate, that it seems almost unnecessary to repeat them here. As you request 
jt, however, I shall briefly give them. 

I think, then, that no peace should be granted to Mexico, till a reasonable iri- 
demnity is obtained for the injuries which she has done us. The territorial ex- 
tent of this indemnity is, in the first instance, a subject of Executive considera- 
tion. There the Constitution has placed it, and tl.ere I am willing to leave it, 
not only because I have full confidence in its judicious exercise, but because, in 
the ever-varying circumstances of a war, it would be indiscreet, by a public de- 
claration, to commit the country to any line of indemnity which might otherwise 
be enlarged, as the obstinate injustice of the enemy prolongs the contest, with its 
loss of blood and treasure. 

It appears to me that the kind of metaphysical magnanimity, which would 
reject all indemnity at the close of a bloody and expensive war, brought on by a 
direct attack upon our troops by the enemy, and preceded by a succession of un- 
just acts for a series of years, is as unworthy of the age in which we live, as it 
is revolting to the common sense and practice of mankind. It would conduce but 
little to our future security, or, indeed, to our present teputation, to declare that 
we repudiate all expectation of compensation from the Mexican Government, and 
' are fighting, not for any practical result, but tor some vague, perhaps philanthropic 
object, which escapes my penetration, and must be defined by those who assume 
this new principle of national intercom uunication. All wars are to be depre- 
cated, as well by the statesman, as by the philanthropist. They are great evils,, 
but there are greater evils than these, and submission to injustice is among them. 
The nation which should refuse to defend its rights and its honor, when assailed, 
would soon have neither to defend ; and when driven to war, it is not by profes- 
sions of disinterestedness and declarations of magnanimity, that its rational ob- 
jects can be best obtained, or other nations taught a lesson of forbearance — the 
strongest security for permanent peace. We are at war with Mexico, and its vig- 
orous prosecution is the surest means of its speedy termination, and ample indem- 
nity the surest guarantee against the recurrence of such injustice as provoked it. 

The Wilmot Proviso has been before the country some time. It has been re- 
peatedly discussed in Congress, and by the public press. I am strongly impress- 
ed with the opinion that a great change has been going on in the public mind 
upon this subject — in my own as well as others ; and that doubts are resolving 
themselves into convictions, that the principles it involves should be kept out oi 
the National Legislature, and left to the people of the Confederacy in the respec- 
tive local governments. 

The whole subject is a comprehensive one, and fruitful of imporant consequen- 
ces. It would be ill-timed to discuss it here. I shall not assume that responsible 
task, but shall confine myself to such general views as are necessary to the fair 
exhibition of my opinions. 

We may regret the existence of slavery in the Southern States, and wish 

they had been saved from its introduction, But there it is, and not by the act 

of the present generation ; and we must deal with it as a great practical ques- 

tion, involving the most momentous consequences. We have neither the right nor 

5 



C6 

t'ie power to touch it where it exists ; and it we had both, their exercise, by any 
means heretofore suggested, might lead f o results which no wise man would wil- 
lingly encounter, and which no good man could contemplate without anxiety. 

The theory of our Government presupposes th;it its various members have re- 
served to themselves the regulation ot all subjects relating to what may be term- 
ed their internal police. They are sovereign within their boundaries, except in 
those cases, where they have surrendered to the General Government a portion 
of their rights, in order to give effect to the objects of the Union, whether these 
concern foreign nations or the several States themselves. Local institutions, if 
I may 80 speak, whether they have reference to slavery, or to any other rela- 
tions, domestic or public, are left to local authority, either original or deriva- 
tive. Congress has no right to say that there shall be slavery in New York, or 
that there shall be no slavery in Georgia; nor is there any other human power 
but the people of those States, respectively, which can change the relations ex- 
isting therein ; and they can say, if they will, we will have slavery in the for- 
mer, and we will abolish it in the latter. 

In various respects, the Territories differ from the States. Some of their 
rights are inchoate, and they do not possess the pecn'iar attributes of sovereignty. 
Their relation to the General Government is very imperfectly defined by the 
Constitution ; and it will be found, upon examination, that in that instrument the 
only grant of power concerning them is conveyed in the phrase " Congress shall 
have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations res- 
pecting the territory and other property belonging to the United Slates." Cer- 
tainly this phraseology is very loose, if it were designed to include in the grant 
the whole power of legislation over persons, as well as things. The expression, 
the "territory and other property," fairly construed, relates to the public lands, 
as such, to arsenals, dock-yards, forts, ships, and all the various kinds of proper- 
ty which the United States may, and must possess. 

But .-'jiel) the simple authority to disposi- of and regulate, these, does not ex- 
tend to the unlimited power ol legislation ; to the passage of all lairs, in the 
most goneral acceptation of the word, which, by the by, is carefully excluded 
from the sentence. And, indeed, if this were so, it would render unnecessary 
another provision of the Constitution, which grants to Congress the power to 
legislate, with the consent ol the States, respectively, over all places purchased 
fiir the "erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards," &c. These being 
the 'property" of the United States, if the power to make " needful rules and 
regulations concerning" them, includes the general power of legislation, then 
the grant of authority to regulate "the, territory and other property of the United 
States' is unlimited, wherever subjects are fi/nnd for its operation, and its exer- 
cise needed no auxiliary provision. If on the other hand, it does not include 
such power of legislation over the "other property" of the United States, then 
it does n«t include it over their " territory" for the same terms which grant 
the one, grant the other. " Territory" is here class* d with property, and treat- 
ed as su:h ; and the object was evidently to enable the General Government, as 
a property-holder, which, from necessity, it must be to manage, preserve, and 
"dispose of" such property as it might possess, and which authority is essen- 
tial, almost to its being. But the lives and persons of our citizens, with the vast 
variety of objects connected with them, cannot bo controlled by an authority, 
which i- merely called into existence for the purpose of making rules and regu- 
lations for the disposition and management of property. 

Such, it appears to me, would be the construction put npon this provision of 
the Constitution, were this question now first presented for consideration, and 
not controlled by imperious circumstances. The original ordinance of the Con- 
gress of Confederation, passed in 1797, and which was the only act upon this 
subject in force at the-adoption of the Constitution, provided a complete frame 
of Government for the country north of the Ohio, while in a territorial condition, 



67 

and for its eventual admission, in separate States, into the Union. And the per- 
suasion, that this ordinance, contained, within itself, all the necessary means of 
execution, probably prevented any direct reference to the subject in the Consti- 
tution, further than vesting in Congress the right to admit the States formed 
under it into the Union. However, circumstances arose which required legis- 
lation, as well over the territory north of the Ohio, as over other territory, both 
within and without the original Union, ceded to the General Government; an I, 
at various times, a more enlarged power has been exercised over the Territo- 
ries—meaning thereby, the different Territorial Governments— than is convey- 
ed by the limited grant referred to. How far an existing necessity n.ay have 
operated in producing this legislation, and thus extending, by rather a violent 
implication, powers not directly given, I know not. But, certain it is, that ihe 
principle of interference should not be carried beyond the necessary implication 
which produces it. It should be limited to the creation of proper governments 
lor new countries, acquired or settled, and to the necessary provision for their 
eventual admission into the Union ; leaving, in the meantime, to the people in-" 
habiting them, to regulate their internal concerns in their own way. They are 
just as capable of doing so as the people of the States ; and they can do so, at 
any rate, as soon as their political independence is recognized by admission into 
the Union. During this temporary condition, it is hardly expedient to call into 
exercise a doubtful and invidious authority, which questions the intelligence of a 
respectable portion of our citizens, and whose limitation, whatever it may be, 
wdl be rapidly approaching its termination — an authority which would give to 
Congress despotic power, uncontrolled by the Constitution, over most important 
sections of our common country. For, "if the relation of master and servant 
may be regnlafed or annihilated by its legislation, so may the relation of husband 
and wife, of parent and child, and of any other condition which our institutions 
and the habits of our society recognize. What would be thought if Congress 
should undertake to prescribe the terms of marriage in New York, or to regulate 
the authority of parents over their children in Pennsylvania ? And yet it would 
be as vain to seek one justifying the interference of the National Legislature in 
the cases referred t> in th:^ original Sta'es of the U.n'oi. I speak here of the 
inherent power of Congress, and do not touch the question of such contracts as 
may be formed with new States when admitted into the confederacy. 

Of all the qoesfions that can agitate us, those which are merely sectional in 
their character are the most dangerous, and the most to be deprecated. The 
warning voice of him who, from his character, and services, and virtu?, had the 
best right to warn us, proclaimed to his countrymen, in his hreweil address — 
that monument of wisdom for him, as I hope it "will be of safety for them — how 
much we had to apprehend from measures peculiarly affecting geographical por- 
tions of our country. The grave circumstances in which we are now placed 
make these words words of safely ; fbr [ am satisfied, from all I have seen and 
heard here, that a successful atiempt to engraft the principles of the Wilmot Pro- 
viso upon the legislation of this Government, and to apply them to new territory, 
should new territory be acquired, would Seriously affect our tranquility. I Ho 
not suffer myself to foresee or foretell the consequences that would ensue. ; for 
J trust and believe there is good sense and. good feeling enough in the country 
to avoid them, by avoiding all occasions which might lead to them. Briefly, 
then, I am opposed to the exercise of any jurisdiction by Congress over this 
matter; and 1 am in favor of leaving to the people of any territory which may 
be hereafter acquired, the right to i< g date it for themselves, under the general 
principles of the Constitution. Because, 

1st. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of the requisite power to Con- 
gress ; and I am not disposed to extend a doubtful precedent beyond its necessity — 
tne establishment of Territorial Governments when needed — leaving to the inhabi- 
tants all the rights compatible with the relations they bear to the Confederation. 



68 

2. Because I believe this measure, if adopted, would weaken, if not impair, 
the union, of the Slates ; and would sow the seeds of future discord, which 
would trrow up and ripen into an abundant harvest of calamity. 

3. Because I believe a general conviction that such a proposition would suc- 
ceed, would lead to an immediate withholding of the supplies, and thus to a dis- 
honorable lerminalion of the war. I think no dispassionate observer at the seat 
of Government can doubt this result. 

4. If, however, in this I am under a misapprehension, I am under none in 
the practical operation of this restriction, if adopted by Congress, upon a treaty 
of peace making any acquisition of Mexican territory. Such a treaty would be 
rejected just as certainly as pj-esented to the Senate. More than one-third of 
that body would vote against it, viewing such a principle as an exclusion of the 
citizens of the slaveholding States from a participation in the benefits acquired by 
the treasure and exertions of all, and which should be common to all. I am re- 
peating — neithei advancing nor defending these views. That branch of the 
subject does not lie in my way, and I shall not turn aside to seek it. 

In this aspect of the matter, the people of the United States must choose be- 
tween this restriction and the extension of their territorial limits. Thpy cannot 
have both ; and which they will surrender must depend upon their Representa- 
tives first, and then, if these fail them, upon themselves. 

5. But, after all, it seems to be generally conceded, that this restriction, if 
carried into effect, could not operate upon any State to be formed from newly ac- 
quired territory. The well known attributes of sovereignty, recognized by us as 
belonging to the State Governments, would sweep-before them any such barrier, 
and would leave the people to express and exert their will at pleasure. Is the 
object, then, of temporary exclusion for so short a period as the duration of the 
Territorial Governments, worth the price at which it would be purchased? 
Worth the discord it would engender, the trial to which it would expose our 
Union, and the evils that would be the certain consequence, let that trial result 
as it might? As to the course which has been intimated, rather than proposed, 
of engrafting such a restriction upon any treaty of acquisition, I persuade myself 
it would find but little favor in any portion of this country. Such an arrangement 
would render Mexico a party, having a right to interfere in our internal institu- 
tions in questions left by the Constitution to the State Governments, and would 
inflict a serious blow upon our fundamental principles. Few, indeed, I trust, 
there are among us who would thus grant to a foreign power the right to inquire 
into the Constitution and conduct of the sovereign States of this Union ; and if 
there are any, I am not among them, and never shall ^e. To the people of this 
country, under God, now and hereafter, are its destinies committed; and we 
want no foreign power to interrogate us, treaty in hand, and to say, why have 
you done this, or why have you left that undone? Our own dignity and the 
principles of national independence unite to repel such a proposition. 

But there is another important consideration, which ought not to be lost sight 
of in the investigation of this subject. The question that presents itself is not 
a question of the increase, but of the diffusion of slavery. Whether its sphere 
be stationary or progressive, its amount will be the same. The rejection of this 
restriction will not add one to the class of servitude, nor will its adoption give 
freedom to a single being who is now placed therein. The same numbers will 
be spread over greater territory; and so far as compression, with less abund- 
ance of the necessaries of life, is an evil, so far will that evil be mitigated by 
transporting slaves to a new country, and giving them a larger space to occupy. 

I say this in the event of the extension of slavery over any new acquisition. But 
can it go there? This may well be doubted. All the descriptions which reach us 
of the condition of the California* and of New Mexico, to the acquisition of which 
our efforts seem at present directed, mite in representing those countries as agri- 
cultural regions, similar in their products to our middle States, and generally unfit 



69 

for the production of the great staples which can alone render slave labor valu- 
able. If we are not grossly deceived — and it is diffi -ult to conceive how we can 
be — the inhabitants of those regions, whether they depend upon their ploughs 
or their herds, cannot he slaveholders. Involuntary labor, requiring the invest- 
ment of large capital, can only be profitable when employed in the production 
of a few favored articles confined by nature to special districts, and paying larger 
returns than the usual agricultural products spread over more considerable por- 
tions <f the earth. 

In the able letter of Mr. Buchanan upon this subject, not long since given to 
the public, he presents similar considerations with great force. " Neither," says 
this distinguished writer, "the soil, the climate, nor the productions of California 
south of 36° 30', nor, indeed, of any portion of it, north or south, is adapted to 
slave labor; and besides, every facility would be there afforded for the slave to 
escape from his master. Such property would be entirely insecure in any part 
of California. It is morally impossible, therefore, that a majority of the emi- 
grants to that portion of the territory south of 36° 30', which will be chiefly 
composed of our citizens, will ever re-establish slavery within its limits. 

"In regard to New Mexico, east of the Rio Grande, the question has already 
been settled by the admission of Texas into the Union. 

"Should we acquire territory beyond the Rio Grande and east of the Rocky 
Mountains, it is still more impossible that a majority of the people would consent 
to reestablish slavery. They are themselves a colored population, and among 
them the negro does not belong socially to a degraded race." 

With this last remark Mr. Walker fully coincides, in his letter written in 
1814. upon the annexation of Texas, and which everywhere produced so favor- 
able an impression upon the public mind, as to have conduced very materially to 
the accomplishment of that great measure. " Beyond ihe Del Norte," says Mr. 
Mr. Walker, "slavery will not pass ; not only because it is forbidden bylaw, 
but because he colored race preponderates in the ratio of t*n to one over the 
whites ; and holding, as they do, the Government and most of the offices in their 
possession, they will not permit the enslavement of any portion of the colored 
race which makes and executes the laws of the country." 

The question, it will be therefore seen on examination, does not regard the 
exclusion of slavery from a region where it now exists, but a prohibition against 
its introduction where it d «es not exist, and where, from the feelings of the in- 
habitants and the laws of nature, " it is morally impossible," as Mr. Buchanan 
says, that it can ever re-establish itself. 

It augurs well for the permanence of our Confederacy, that during more than 
half a century which has elapsed since the establishment of this Government, 
many serious questions, and some of the highest importance, have agitated the 
public mind, and more than once threatened the gravest consequences, but that 
they have all in succession passed away, leaving our institutions unscatched, 
and our country advancing in number.--, power, and wealth, and in all the other 
elements of national prosperity, with a rapidity unknown in ancient or in modern 
days. In times of political excitement, when difficult and delicate questions 
present themselves for solution, there is one ark of safety for us. and that 
is, an honest appeal to the fun lamental principles of our Union, and a stern 
determination to abide their dictates. This course of proceeding has carried 
us in safety through many a trouble, and I'trust. will carry us safely through many 
more, should many more be destined to ass-til us. The Wilmot Proviso seeks 
to take from its legitimate tribunal a question of dom-st'ic policy, having no re- 
lation to the Union, as such, and to transfer it to another created by the. people 
for a special purpose, and foreign to the subject. m itter involved in this issue. By 
going back to our true principles, we go back to the road of peace and safety. 
Leave to the people, who will be affected by this question, to adjust it upon their 
own responsibility, and in their own manner, and we shall render another tn- 



70 

bute to the original principles of our Government, and furnish another guarantee 
for its permanence an'd prosperity. 

I am, dear sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS." 
On the 6th of April, resolutions passed the Senate declaring, " lliat in the 
name and behalf of the American people, the congratulations of Congress are 
hereby tendered to the peop'e of France, upon the success of their recent eflbrts 
to consolidate the principles of liberty in a republican form of Government." 
General Cass delivered an eloquent speech in support of the resolutions, in 
which he said : 

" What do we propose to do, sir? To congratulate the French people upon 
the liberty which they have just acquired, and the free principles they have es- 
tablished as the basis of their Government. We believe that our congratula. 
tions. at tfci* time, will not only be acceptable to them, but useful In ilie great 
cause of freedom throughout the world. This tribute from the oldest, and, un- 
fortunately, I may add, lrom almost the only Republic, free from interna' dissen- 
sions. to a great nation just entering into the career of self-government, wili be 
received and welcomed in France as a proof of interest and solicitude, naturally 
arising out of the past, and encouraging for the future. And especially will it 
be acceptable at the commencement of the great work, when the new born re- 
public finds itse-lf surrounded with powerful monarchial Governments, jealous ol 
the progress of liberty, and whose very existence may be put to hazard by the 
portentous event, which is fixing the gaze of mankind. 

"Our desire is to congratulate the French people upon what they have ac- 
tually done, leaving to Him who holds in his hand the fate of nations, to guide 
their future destiny by his own good pleasure. They have done enough totneri' 
congratulations from every human being who loves liberty, or who hopes for its 
enjoyment by the nations of the earth. They have resisted oppression ; a series 
of efforts which, if not resisted, would have shown that they were fit only foi 
the bonds preparing for them; the least of which would have, roused up twentj 
millions of Americans, as one man, to fight the battle of liberty, and to gain it 
Thev have overturned the late Government, and established one of their own 
and with a spirit of wisdom and moderation, which, under all the circumstances 
has been rarely equalled in the world. The act - f the Provisional Government— 
the temporary fourth of July declaration, I may call it, of the rrench people 
lays down many of the just principles of human freedom, which will find a res 
ponsive echo in this country.'' 

On the 81 of May a bilf passed the Senate "granting to the State of Illinois 
the ri<fht of way and a donation of public lands, for making a railroad conned 
ingthe upper and lower Mississippi with the chain of northern lakes at Chicago.' 
The bill gave rise to an animated discussion, in which the power of the Genera 
G iverninent to commence and cany on a general system of internal improv 
ments was discussed. General Cass supported the bill, and contended that whih 
ihc General Government has no power to make any railroad or canal throng* 
any State, it clearly has the power to dispose in any manner of a portion of tin 
public domain to raise the value of the rest. He Bald : " As [ intend to vote fo 
this bill, I wish to say a very few words in regard '" "'• The subject has beet 
often betbre the Senate: and the Senator from Connecticut ( Mr.* Nile.-) has a 
often reiterated his scruples, taking the same ground that he has taken today 
and carefully avoiding the ground upon which the bill rests. This bill does no 
touch the question of internal improvements at all. It a*s»rt9 HO right on th« 
part of this ( iovernment to layout a road. rir. to regulate the construction <>f * 
road. The Federal UorerOtioent h a great landholder'; k possessed an e\ten 
sive public domain ; and we have the power, under the Constitution, to disposi 
of that domain; and a very unlimited power it is. The simple question is, wha 
disposition we may make of the public hinds ? N > one will contend for the doc 



71 

trine that we cannot give them away to a State. As the Senator from Kentucky 
(Mr. Crittenden) has said, every President has signed bills asserting the princi- 
ple that these 'ands may he disposed of by the General Government, without re- 
striction as to the purpose of such disposition. We may bestow them tor school 
purposes, or we may bestow a portion for the purpose of improving the value of 
the rest. What right have you to sit still and see your lands growing in value, 
through the instrumentality of individuals, without rendering any aid in further- 
ance of that object ? It is the settlement of the lands that makes them valuable. 
It is the settler who converts the howling wilderness into fruitful fields. It is 
the labor and enterprise of the settler that has given you in the west a magnifi- 
cent empire, and one which has arisen within so brief a period that it is almost 
incomprehensi tie. When I told the story in Europe that I had crossed the Ohio 
when there were scarcely twenty thousand people in that country, and that it 
now contained five millions, they did not laugh in my face, to be sure, but they 
did not believe what I said. There is no parallel in the history of man — no 
such splendid tribute to human industry and enterprise — since the first man went 
<out of the garden of Eden. It is not twenty-five years ago that I sat all night 
m a canoe at the head of the pond at Chh-ago, there being no human habitation 
in which we could obtain shelter, from the mouth of the Illinois to the mouth of 
the Chicago river; and now it is one of the great highways of travel between 
the northern lakes and the ocean. Sir, I hope the gentleman will put this upon 
its true ground, leaving out the constitutional question, and taking alone into con- 
sideration what is your duty as landholders in a new country — a country, too, 
whici must derive its improvement from the industry and enterprise of your own 
population, where every stroke of the woodman's axe redounds to your advantage. 
The man who sits down with his family in the wilderness to make for himself a 
home, evinces more moral courage than the man who goes into battle. No man 
who has not experienced the difficulties and dangers he has to encounter, can 
estimate them. I appeal to the Senator from Connecticut to look at it in this 
point of view. He is from an old country, where such improvements have been 
ready-ma.de to his hands by his great-great-grandfather. Roads have been made 
and bridges built for his accommodation ; but he must recollect that his cotem- 
poraries, his friends around him, his children, perhaps, are going into this new 
country and enduring privations to make that valuable which was not so before.' 

Early in May the President laid before Congress the correspondence had be- 
tween our Secretary of State and the Commissioner from Yucatan relative to 
the condition of that country, and the course pursued by the blacks in murdering, 
the white population, pillaging and burning the towns, and soliciting Congress 
to devise some measures for their relief. Siibseq icntly the Committee on Fur. 
eign Affairs of the Senate reported a bill to enable the President to take tempo, 
rary military possession of Yucatan. General Cass advocated the report of the 
Committee.* In regard to the principle advanced by Mr. Monroe, and reasserted 
by Mr. Polk, which denounced any future attempt of the European powers to 
establish new colonies in this country, General Cass considered it "a wise 
measure, fuliy justified by received principles of the law of nations, and by the 
actual circumstances of our country." In reference to the bill proposed he said : 

" I prefer, sir, the bill reported by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, to the amendments proposed. I do so because, among other reasons, 
I like tf> call things by their true names. The bill expresses clearly the objects 
we hav>- in view, and the motives which influence u«. And our operations under 
it may be continued till the conflict is terminated, or till the Mexican Government 
can interpose with sufficient vigor for the protection of the Yucatese people. 
And a peace with Mexico would not thus compel us to retire before the Indians 
at the very moment the exigency might be the most urgent. 

♦'Some' objection has been made to the provision for the armed occupation of 
the country. I do not object. si M either to the expression or to the power. If 



72 

we go to Yucatan at all, we must go there not as subordinate allies, but with a 
right to control and direct all the operations we may deem necessary. Assured- 
ly we could not think of placing our officers under the authority ot the Yucatese 
Government, timid and incompetent as that Government has shown itself. And 
it ought to be distinctly understood, that wherever our forces move in Yucatan, 
during this period of convulsion, they move with a right to take any positions 
they may deem expedient, and to carry on all the operations which circumstan- 
ces may require. I have not had an opportunity caref'u ly to examine the amend- 
ment, having only heard them read, but they seem to indicate our proper course 
of action less satisfactory than the original bill itself." 



CHAPTKR XL 

As the time approached for the assemblage of the Democratic National Con- 
vention, the current of opinion in the great Democratic party gradually but stead- 
ily settled upon General Cass as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency. 
The Convention convened in Baltimore on the 22d day of May. Hon. Andrew 
Stevenson, of Virginia, was selected to preside over its deliberations. After an 
elaborate discussion for three days, relative to the contested seats of the New 
York delegates, and the adoption of rules, &c. the Convention proceeded to bal- 
lot, and upon the fourth ballot General Cass received 179 voles, (being more 
than two-thirds of the votes cast, which was necessary, under the rules, to a 
choice.) and was therefore declared to be the nominee of the Convention. 

As a matter for future reference, we here insert the state of the various bal- 
lotings : 

F>rsl Ballot.— Cass, 125; Buchanan. 55; Woodbury, 53; Calhoun, 9; 
Worth, G; Dallas, 3. (Florida and New York not voting.) 

Second Ballot.— Cass, 133; Woodbury, 56 ; Buchanan, 51 ; Worth, 5; Dal- 
las, 3. (Florida and New York not voting.) 

Third Ballot.— Cass, 156 ; Woodbury, 53 ; Buchanan, 40 ; Worth, 5. (New 
York not voting.) 

Fourth Ballot.— Cass, 179 ; Woodbury, 39 ; Buchanan, 33 ; Butler, 3 ; Worth, 
1. (New York not voting.) 

The announcement of the result by the President of the Convention was fol- 
lowed by enthusiastic applause. The members of the various delegations al- 
most universally springing to their feet, and uniting in one spirit-stirring shout 
of approbation. 

General Cass is now the candidate of the Republican Democracy of the United 
States for the highest office wilhin the gift ot the American people. Endowed 
by nature with great physical and mental energy, the latter highly cultivated and 
enlightened by science and experience, he has never eluded responsibility, lack- 
ed wisdom, or wanted promptness in decision. His frank independ nee and can- 
dor, as Ihe man'? whole political career gives evidence, are equalled only by the 
proud genius wl.ich has steadily raised him. in the. popular esteem, to the highest 
9tation°under our Government, until he stands invested with the confidence and 
regard of the entire National Democracy. He has served his country, and he 
is capable of serving her again. He has served her in the war of 1812. He 
has served her abroad at a most important crisis. He has served her in the 
public councils at home. He is a statesman of enlarged experience — of exten- 
sive attainments — honest in his principles — [Hire in his private life— amiable in 
his manners— faithlul to his friends — lil.eral »o his Opponents. Trusted in va- 
rious respectable and responsible offices by Madison. Monroe, Jackson, and 
Van Buren, and honored with the confidence of Polk, we trust he will not prove 
himself unworthy or incompetent to tread in the footsteps of these distinguished 
predecessors." 



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